White Gold
by valentine999
Summary: Alpha force are helping out in Peru for a while and everything is going swimmingly. But then Alex falls for a girl who's involved in some bad business and everyone's trip is turned into something bigger than they imgined it would be.
1. Chapter 1

First alpha fanfic! yay! i'm an alex fan for those of you who have not yet guessed. :D erm...tbh, i haven't read the books in ages and sadly i haven't bought them so excuse me if my alpha vocab is not correct! anyways, the fic:

* * *

The sky was a beautiful array of colour that evening; as the sun set streaks of purple, pink and yellow fell across it. All that could be heard was birdsong, soft and welcoming in the air and the flow of water rushing in a waterfall nearby, some lazy drivers drove at slow paces, allowing their music too to enter his ears. Paulo lay in a hammock, a slight breeze ruffling his hair, his dreams wondering if heaven could be any different from this.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." He heard a soft voice whisper, he opened his eyes slowly and his handsome face hitched a lazy smile.

"Hello, Li." She smiled at him from behind a water gun.

"Howdy, cowboy." Another voice said and he turned his head to find Amber at the doorway, a water gun in her hands as well. He sighed; they'd cornered him.

"You wouldn't dare." He said simply and shut his eyes again.

"Wouldn't we?" He opened his eyes and jumped so violently that he fell out of the hammock. Everyone laughed as Hex towered above him.

"How'd you do that so fast?" He shouted and stood up again, but realised that one more would come his way and looked wildly around for Alex. "Where is he?" Paulo snarled, knowing his friend would surprise him from somewhere else.

"Yeah Paulo, he's on the roof." Amber said sarcastically as the boy looked up. The three spectators laughed as Paulo tried desperately to search the small confines of the veranda to find Alex.

"Is he even anywhere near here?" He finally gave up. He was about to let his guard down when Li nodded enthusiastically. Unsure of what this meant he walked to where Li stood; separated from him by the rail that lined the veranda. Paulo yelled out as Alex jumped up from behind Li and squirted water with full force into Paulo's face; a clear cue for everyone to drench the boy. Li and Alex jumped over the rail to get a better aim. Once they were fully satisfied with his soaking they stopped and shook their heads in disappointment. "Wha…what?" he said, trying to catch his breath.

"You told Lily you'd meet her at the museum," Li said with overly exaggerated sadness. Paulo's eyes widened as he remembered.

"Don't worry, Amber and I went to help out; she's not too annoyed." Hex said.

"Then what's with this punishment?" Paulo squeezed water out of his t-shirt. Alex shrugged.

"It was just funny." The usually serious look on Alex face was gone, he grinned at his friend apologetically.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," he slid back into the hammock, "I'm going back to sleep; I'll apologise to Lily when I see her." He shut his eyes.

"So that'll be in about two minutes." Amber said and Paulo looked at her. "There's another protest tonight." Paulo smiled; there was a wonderful sense of communal freedom whenever they protested.

Alpha force had come to Peru just over a week ago and in that time they had been trekking in the rainforest of the Amazon Basin for a week. Once they had finished they had planned on travelling back to the US to stay with Amber but they had come across the plight of the town they were in now. Abancay was a city just outside of Cusco; a place famous for its history involving the Inca empire. The economy of Peru has always been slow in development and in this city one of the main sources of income, the Inca Museum, was under threat of closure. Lily, the girl they had met here on their way to the airport, had offered them a place to stay in her home and they had asked to become involved in preventing the museum being shut down. Many of the people in this part of the city worked in or for the museum; losing their jobs means a loss of incomes for their families.

"Alright, let's get going." Alex said and put his water gun down before turning away from the group, when he noticed they had not followed he turned back. "What?" he asked in question to their sly smiles.

"Someone's a little eager." Li said and winked as she walked past him.

"Yeah, give the rest of us a chance." Paulo ran after Li.

"She'll still be there when we get there Alex," Amber smiled at him even when he still looked uncomprehending. Though he was grateful when Hex passed him and shrugged. "Come on Alex!" Amber shouted, he jumped over the rail of the veranda and down to the car.

* * *

By the time Alpha had got to the museum the first few stars had arrived in the sky. Due to the poor electrical supply to this part of town, the street lights had not turned on, all that was illuminated with electrical lights was the museum, and the people in the streets were plunged into candlelight. Alpha force had become accustomed to the way things were run here; they'd only been in the town for two days but everything had become familiar as Lily had shown them around a lot. There was the soft murmur of music from a coffee shop and everyone was sitting around, talking lazily to one another. This was probably the oddest thing about the place; alpha force were used to action and thrills on their adventures, this was the only place they had come to were the people were relaxed. Even though they were about to lose everything, there was a happiness in just being outside together.

"Hex! Amber!" They heard a voice shout and turned, "Paulo, Li," the girl said as she ticked them off. "Alex," she smiled at him and he'd become increasingly annoyed at the way his heart would jump into his throat every time she smiled at him; it made it difficult to say much.

"Hey Lily," He said with much effort. Her bright brown eyes glanced around at them all.

"A chairman from the ISOC institute is coming today," lily informed them; ISOC was the company responsible for trying to shut down the museum. "He's going to give the final verdict." They all smiled at the way she grew nervous and excited; it was odd to find a teenager who cared so much for a museum. Lily was originally from Peru, her parents were very wealthy and sent her to school in England when she was six; she was one of the only people in this city to have ever stepped outside Peru. She came back every summer and this summer she'd come across the plight of the museum. _That place holds much of my heritage; I can't see it thrown away or sold to some other place. This is where it came from; it should stay here, with its people. _That's what she had told Alpha force and they admired her for it.

"So what're we doing tonight?" Hex said and glanced around, many vans were arriving, and unusual thing in this part of town.

"I think the owner of the museum, Mr Aldama, is going to give a speech." She said happily, "News crews have arrived today; we made enough of a fuss." Two young children ran past in a hurry, she shouted something to them in Spanish and they stopped running, Paulo added something and they looked terrified for a moment. Lily laughed and Paulo grinned at her.

"So what're _we, _doing tonight?" Amber repeated Hex's question, lily looked thoughtful.

"I'm afraid there isn't much left to do, apart from serve drinks organize stuff. Sorry," she added as they looked disappointed. But that didn't mean that's all they'd been up to in the past two days; Hex had been up doing much infiltrating of ISOC's systems, Alex and Paulo had driven to their institution on the outskirts of their town and helped Lily uncover some files for her father's research. Li and Amber had helped Lily's mother organize many protests and this needed so much work that both girls were usually exhausted.

"That's fine by us!" Li and Amber said; glad to have a break from the craziness of the past two days.

* * *

Alpha force went about odd chores throughout the crowds and town, though there was not much to do and Lily insisted they rest for most of the evening. Everyone dispersed, the girls started off together but soon Li was coaxed away by a boy she had met the day before and Amber saw a jewellery store. That was odd as well; the stores stayed open as long as people were around, there were never strict rules. The boys did well for a while until Paulo found himself amongst a group of giggling girls and Hex found a business man trying to get his laptop to work. Now Alex looked around for them all in a lazy fashion; there was no need to be worried about anything or anyone here, everyone was so familiar with one another that they knew they were safe.

Alex wandered the streets and although it was the evening it was still very warm, he ran a hand through his blonde hair; knowing, but not admitting to himself, what he was looking for. He saw on the ground was a small brown bag, he rolled his eyes; there was a bin less than a meter away from it. He went to pick it up but as soon as he did he yelled out and dropped the bag. It had contained a broken bottle or something because glass had cut deep into Alex's skin. He looked around for some water to clean the wound with but noticed that something grabbed his hand. He looked down and saw Lily inspecting it; the touch of her skin on his made him blush; it was stupid and immature but he couldn't help it.

"Come here Alex." She said softly, he obliged and she and led him to a bench, they sat in silence for a few moments as lily took a small first aid kit out of her bag. He watched her as she took his had and began to clean.

"How do you know what to do?" He said, trying to make conversation, he realised the irrelevance of what he said and bit his lip. She smiled and looked at him.

"Mum, she's a nurse when she's not a house wife." She wiped the blood away. "How're you finding it here Alex?" he took a moment before answering.

"Everything here's really beautiful," he said and she laughed.

"It is isn't it?" She looked up at the sky, "even the stars have some kind of beauty that they don't have in London…" her voice trailed away and Alex looked up too; it was true, the stars twinkled in a way he'd never seen.

"What's that sound?" He'd suddenly noticed music as Lily took out a bandage to wrap around his hand. She looked around to an old woman playing a guitar to two children.

"it's a lullaby," Lily smiled and began to sing. "Mi nina, tiene sueno bendito sea, bendito sea…" her voice was carried away by the breeze so Alex leant further in to listen.

"What does it mean?" He asked and her dark skin reddened as she noticed he was nearer.

"Erm….Sounds of the night surround you. A soft breeze is blowing. Nearby the little fountain is sparkling and flowing. Hush while the cradle's swaying. Swaying and swinging. Listen and hear the song of the Nightingale singing." Alex brushed hair from her face as the wind blew it across her eyes, he leant in further-

"¡Vayamos!" They heard a voice shout, they both jumped and their heads bumped.

"Sorry!" they said in unison and an awkward silence ensued. Both wishing the ground would swallow them up.

"Er…lily?" Alex finally said, "what's everyone…where's everyone…?" Lily looked around and listened to the shouts of everyone, she engaged for a moment with conversation to a teenage boy.

"The announcement is about to be made," she said, Alex began to follow the rest of the crowd but Lilly grabbed his hand. "This ways faster," she said, dragging him in the opposite direction, "trust me."

* * *

What're we thinking? Good? Bad? I dunno…review and tell me your thoughts!


	2. Chapter 2

Next chapter! wooh! i'm slightly hyper after my exam :D

* * *

Lily lead Alex through the side streets of the town, he followed the candlelight's shine as it reflected from her long brown waves of hair. The smell of honeysuckle hung in the humid air and there seemed to be a constant hum of music in the background. The walls had shadows flickered across them, dancing to the unknown tune that was now stuck in Alex's head. They passed a café and inside a radio could be heard clear above the rest of the noise;

"_Four dead bodies of boys aged 14-16 were found today; it is thought that their deaths are linked to the mass drug trade happening in_…" They passed by and Alex thought for a moment why the woman had been speaking in English. But lily turned a corner quickly and Alex bumped into her.

"Sorry," he said quickly.

"Don't worry." She smiled and he looked around, again feeling nervous.

"Lily, this is a dead end." He said and appraised the solid wall in front of them. He turned to her and she was smiling mischievously. "What?" But he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"We're going to have to climb." There was an excitement in her voice that reminded Alex of the times he was little and he used to be outdoors with his dad. Lily was an only child and her parents hardly acknowledged her; they only saw her during the summer and even then they went away. But she didn't seem to mind.

"I thought you said this way was easier?" Alex was smiling now too.

"No," she walked to the wall and tapped the bricks they'd use to climb, "just faster." Alex went first, on account of the fact that Lily was in a skirt. It was relatively easy, the wall wasn't so high.

"You've done this before haven't you?" Alex said once he reached the top, he looked over and saw a platform to stand on. He turned back to help Lily up but almost fell off the wall as he saw she was already next to him.

"Yeah," she turned around to sit on the wall. "As a kid, I had a friend called Pedro; we used to play together." There was an ominous way in which she said the last sentence and Alex thought of questioning her but thought better; it was not his place. He turned around now too and looked on, he gasped. They were quite high up in comparison to the rest of the people, there was a platform beneath them with Alex guessed was the roof of a building. But that's not what was amazing; he could see the museum, it wasn't far off, but it was the backdrop, the way moonlight melted into the horizon and the stars looked down on them. "What is it?" Lily asked, noticing the look on his face. He turned to her and smiled.

"It's amazing up here." He said enthusiastically. It was odd, looking down he could see all the people in the town, the shouts of greetings from the people and the news crews talking about what to do, and here they were; sat on the edge of chaos. It was pretty amazing. Lily nodded.

"Hey look," she pointed, "Mr Curtzo, from ISOC. He's going to tell us what's happening." Alex looked but his attention was caught by something else. Behind the wall they were sat he saw three boys, teenagers, delivering crates to a van. It seemed innocent enough but there was a manner in the way they did it, that made Alex suspicious.

"Lily-" He began but was cut off as cheering came from the crowds below, Lily smiled at him.

"We did it!" She said and seemed to relax, "the museum's safe."

"Congratulations!" He said, and he meant it; he could see it meant a lot to her.

"Thanks for your help!" She smiled at him and kissed his cheek; for the second time that night he almost fell off the wall. They stared at each other a moment longer before they heard a shout below.

"OI! YOU TWO!" They stood and walked to the end of the roof, Li was looking at them with a sly smile. "DID YOU HEAR?!" She bellowed and Alex put his hands to his ears.

"Yeah we did Li!" he shouted back, "but there's no need to be so loud!" Lily laughed as Li still looked confused.

"WHAT?!" She yelled and Lily put her hands on her ears as well.

"Guys!" Ambers came over in excitement and bobbed up and down to the music that was growing louder.

"WHAT?!" Li, Alex and lily shouted; Amber jumped.

"It would only ever be you guys shouting in this town," Paulo ambled over, "I reckon you should let these people have some peace and quiet." He shook his head. "Hey…I know this song." It was some Spanish music Alex had never heard of but Paulo seemed to like it.

"Where's Hex?" lily asked.

"Helping with the sound system I think." Amber said thoughtfully, "at least, that's where I saw him last." She smiled evilly, "I'll go get him to dance. Ha!" She wandered off through the crowds. Li also began to bop the music.

"What is this song?" She asked and looked to Paulo for an explanation.

"It's called _Havana nights_," Lily said and jumped from the roof onto a box beneath, she then jumped to the ground. Alex followed.

"Tell me Lily," Paulo held out a hand with a smile and she took it, "do you dance?" She laughed at the overly exaggerated tone of romance Paulo used. She nodded a little shyly and everyone laughed. "Good, well then you can teach Alex, he's pathetic." Paulo dropped his tone and Alex noticed even his accent had been exaggerated.

"Thanks," Alex said sarcastically to Paulo's remark as the other boy took Li's hand.

"Fine, fine," Paulo sighed, "Lily and I will show you." The four of them walked into the crowds to find Hex and Amber. It was a shame, if Alex had decided to go back and check the boys loading the vans; he may have been able to stop events left to unfold.

* * *

"I don't think it's humanly possible for hips to move like that." Hex said simply and Li nodded her head; lost for words.

"Or that fast." Alex added, Amber's mouth hung open in astonishment. They were still outside, it was 2 'o'clock in the morning but the town just didn't want to sleep. There was a bonfire in the town centre and music filled the air from a sound system hex had helped set up. Paulo and lily stopped dancing as the song ended and there was much excitement as another song started up. The pair walked over to their friends.

"C'mon Hex," Amber said with quite determination, the boy shook his head adamantly.

"It's easy," Paulo said and grabbed Li, "you just-"

"You watch where you're putting those hands," Li said quietly. Lily let out an airy laugh and reached passed Alex to grab a bottle of Coke, Alex watched as she drained it in one. She broke away from the bottle and stood, slightly breathless.

"Alex-"

"Dancing's not my thing." He said, already aware of what she was thinking.

"It's easy," she mirrored Paulo and did the steps, again everyone was astonished at the way her hips moved and the rest of her body didn't. "You just…move with me," she knew it was a rubbish explanation but it seemed to make sense. Alex seemed to grow in confidence and he took a step towards her.

"Dad!" Lily yelled and made everyone jump. She ran from the crowds and they watched as she approached a man in a dark suit. Alpha force had only ever met Lily's dad once; he was always away on business and the time they had met him he seemed somewhat distant. They supposed that he hardly knew his daughter; their lives never intertwined.

* * *

"Mija," her dad said solemnly, he did not look up from the papers he was reading. _(A/N: Mija is pronounced Mee-hah, it means daughter in Spanish.) _She saw he was looking at the packing of boxes into trucks that was happening a little way off.

"Business," she said quietly and her father sighed.

"Yeah, sorry." Her dad finally looked at her; she hadn't seen his face in a long time, his face was wrinkled with what her mother called "worry lines," and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. "We'll do something tomorrow but now I need to get this done."

"It's two in the morning," lily said, suddenly remembering.

"There was a delay," he said quickly, "these need to get out ASAP." Her father talked to her as though she was another employee. "Here," Her father handed her a lollipop. "I've got to go."

"Dad what's in the-"

"Lily, just go have fun with your friends Ok?" He said sharply and went back to his papers.

"OK," she said indifferently.

* * *

She walked back to the group; her energy somewhat depleted.

"You OK?" Amber said and Lily nodded.

"Ha…" she wiped her cheek, "he gave me a lollipop." She held it up somewhat feebly. "I guess he still thinks I'm the six year old he sent away," she smiled at the ridiculousness of that statement. Paulo put an arm around her but she shrugged it off.

"I'm Ok, really," she sighed, "I'm used to it." She looked up, her usual smile played across her face. Li squealed as Paulo grabbed her hand and ran back into the dancing mass. They all smiled. Amber noticed a boy she'd met earlier look her up and down, for a minute Hex thought she'd shout at him and he smiled.

"Well, there's my cue." Amber said and walked off. Hex's smiled vanished. "See you guys later." Alex and Lily said goodbye, Hex remained silent, something that did not go unnoticed by Lily.

"Why didn't you ask her to dance then?" Hex looked at Lily sharply as she said this he found it was difficult to be angry with her and just shrugged. "Alright, where we're we?" She looked at Alex who had been looking at the sky, his eyes snapped across to her.

"Wha…? I- No, hang on." He stuttered but before anyone could say anymore water poured down on them. It was such a large amount and so sudden that they thought perhaps Li and Paulo had turned a hose on. But looking around they could see that it was actually raining. The bonfire in the centre was already being put out by the rain and people were running in different directions; trying to find shelter.

"Let's get home!" Lily shouted, Alex and Hex nodded.

"You guys go!" Hex's voice had to compete with the rain, "I'm gonna find Amber." They nodded and he left them. Alex grabbed Lily's hand, not wanting to lose her in the chaos. They began to run; everyone knew the way to Lily's house, they'd been to and from town often enough. Alex led her to where he thought the car was but it wasn't there.

"Paulo had to move it earlier!" Alex shouted to her, "I dunno where to…" they looked around.

"C'mon," Lily said, "let's go home- I'm cold!" Alex laughed and they began to run again. They were sure that everyone else would be able to find their way back; it was just a bit…OK a _lot _of rain. But they just kept running; now Lily led the way, they ran through the streets this time to the thundering sound of the rain. Alex found that with all the noise around him it was easier to think but the only thought that came to his head was _how come we always end up alone? _But he had a feeling a lot of it was orchestrated by his friends.

* * *

Alex saw Lily's mansion before them; it was the biggest building in the town, even bigger than the museum. They dropped the others hand and ran up to a door at the side of the house; they pushed on the door and practically fell into the room.

* * *

"Here!" Paulo shouted and began to climb the ladder, there was a small landing at the top and he was sure there was a way into the house.

"How come, in such a big house there aren't many doors?" Amber shouted and climbed up after him.

"Hurry up Amber! I'm getting drenched." Li shouted up at her.

"We're _already _drenched!" Amber smiled. Paulo had got to the landing at turned to help each of his friends up. Once they were all fine they looked around.

"There!" Hex shouted and pointed to a small door. They all ran to it and pushed it open.

"Argh!" they shouted as they had been so eager to open the door and get inside they didn't realise the door was actually half way up a wall in the house. They all fell into the room with a loud crash. For a few moments there was complete silence as they got over the shock of what happened.

"Ugh…my head." Hex groaned.

"Li that's my leg," Paulo said and Li giggled.

"Everyone get off me!" They heard and everyone immediately unscrambled themselves and stood up, Amber slowly propped herself onto her elbows. Paulo went over and bolted the small door shut; looking now they could see it was two feet above the floor. "What the heck kind of door…" Amber muttered as she stood up. She saw Hex's face had a look of awe and he was looking behind her so she turned around. The light in the room came from many TVs, lined up on a wall, in front of them were many controls of different colours and shapes, to Amber it was just pretty but to Hex it was-

"Awesome," he whispered in appreciation and walked over to the desk.

"Well, hello." Paulo said and pointed to a screen, "what do we have here?" Everyone peered at the screen; it was a large room with a long table in it. Alex and Lily were stood at the door, looking around the room.

"Oooh!" Li said, "this must be all those cameras around the place." She smiled as Hex nodded.

"It's the CCTV system," he said. "Actually," his eyes skimmed the controls, "these are the manual controls for _every _electrical device in the house that's connected to the mainframe." _(A/N: I have no idea what I'm talking about…can you tell?) _

"So that means…" Amber pointed to the label beneath the screen of the room Alex and Lily were in, "the 2nd dining room…we can control the lights?" Hex nodded, Li and Paulo smiled, knowing what Amber was thinking. "How does that work?" She asked hex who was completely unaware of her plan.

"Let's see, 2nd dining room," there was a red sticker next to the label on the screen and so Hex's finger moved to the red coloured buttons. "The lights use a dimmer switch- here." He pointed to a knob that could be twisted.

"Hmmm…" Amber said thoughtfully.

"To manually override it you have to…" but he knew her smile to well, "what're you gonna...?" Her smile widened, "don't do that!"

"Why not?" Li exclaimed.

"Yeah, Alex's clueless when it comes to girls," Paulo shook his head in disappointment. Hex frowned.

"Yeah but don't you think-"

"No." Paulo said.

"But Alex-"

"No." Li confirmed.

"C'mon-"

"Just tell me what to do code boy." Amber said. He instructed her, as though by not doing it physically he could somehow not be guilty. Amber turned off the lights manually and then turned the knob to turn the lights on but only slightly so that the room was in dim light.

"Ha…look at their faces." Paulo smirked. "What's this button?" He leant forwards to read the label. "2nd dining room, main door?" he looked to Hex.

"I guess the doors lock automatically…" He realised what Paulo was thinking.

"Do it." Li said seriously. Hex reached over, he clicked the switch.

* * *

That was ridiculously long!

Reviews appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

Quick update eh?

* * *

Lily and Alex stood for a few minutes in shock; the silence in the room was deafening in comparison to the rain thundering down outside. They looked at each other and saw they were completely drenched, Lily was thankful she wore a dark coloured dress; anything else would've gone see through. Alex only realised a few moments later how cold he was, Lily saw him shivering. Suddenly the lights went out, Lily gasped and Alex was hoping they wouldn't have to spend the evening in the dark; but then they turned back on, dimmer than before but at least they were back on.

"What happened?" Alex asked.

"Hmmm…I dunno," Lily looked equally as confused. "Maybe the storm has something to do with it. C'mon," she began to walk across the room to a door on the other side. She reached it and pushed; it didn't open. "Wha…?" She walked to a cupboard that was a little further away and opened it. Inside was nothing except a small keypad on the door, she entered a code and tried the door again. It didn't budge. Alex came to help, thinking perhaps the door was just stiff; it wasn't. "I guess it's locked from upstairs." She said thoughtfully but that made no sense to Alex.

"Locked from upstairs?" He asked and she nodded.

"Security must've locked it automatically, that's why I can't open it from down here; I have to get to the controls." She pointed up and Alex understood. His face reddened; they were stuck in here together. Lily seemed to notice this as well and walked to a window, she tried to open it. "They've locked everything!" She walked to the door they entered and pushed. "How…?" But she realised she was defeated and slid down the door and sat in a little puddle they'd made when they'd entered. Alex noticed she was shivering.

"I'd offer you my jacket but…" he gestured to it and took it off, even his t-shirt underneath was wet. Lily laughed in exasperation. She stood up and walked down the length of the long table in the room. At the end of the room was one of the biggest fireplaces Alex had ever seen; it's golden mantle was huge as well. At home he had pictures of his family there; glancing around the room he could see that there were no pictures anywhere. In fact the place looked like no one lived here. Lily turned it on and the room was engulfed by the welcomed heat.

"Well, we may as well get comfortable, there's no getting out of here till someone finds us." She sat in front of the fire and gestured for Alex to do the same. As he went to sit he took his mobile out of his pocket.

"We could phone someone," he said and dialled Hex's number.

* * *

"No!" Amber shouted and was helped by Paulo to restrain Hex as Li tried to pry his phone from his hand.

"What the heck is wrong with you all?" Hex's muffled shout could be heard from beneath Amber. Li finally managed to get the phone from him.

"Aha!" she whooped in triumph. "Alright, just reject the call…" She pushed a button and smiled evilly. Everyone went back to the screen; they could see Alex's face as he saw the call was rejected.

"You're all nuts." Hex muttered as Amber and Paulo eased themselves off him.

"No," Amber said in a warning tone, "we're just being good friends-"

"Good friends?" hex genuinely laughed, "Alex doesn't know where we are, he could think we're lost." Hex said adamantly but Paulo frowned.

"It's just a storm; he'll think we can't get signal because of it or something; this is hardly the middle of the rainforest!" Everyone nodded solemnly but Hex still couldn't understand it.

"Whatever," he shrugged under Amber's stare. "Just tell him I had nothing to do with it." Everyone nodded; evidently Hex had forgotten Alex would know he was the only one capable of understanding the security system. Everyone jumped as Amber's phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and pressed the reject button.

"It's all good," she said and Li high fived her. They looked back at the screen.

"Ok guys, rejecting the calls are one thing but do you seriously want to _watch?!" _Hex exclaimed, they thought about this for a few moments before they realised what Hex was thinking.

"Ewww!" Li said and turned the screen off.

"Thank you," hex said grudgingly. Paulo's phone rang; he glanced at the screen and rejected the call.

* * *

"Anything?" Lily asked.

"No," Alex couldn't understand why he couldn't get through to anyone.

"Maybe the storms interfering with your reception?" She pondered. "Ask Hex next time you see him." She said nonchalantly.

"Hex…?" Alex whispered. He glanced at the lights, the doors and down to his phone; a sudden realisation came to him of what his friends must be doing. Or perhaps he was just being paranoid. Then again, they did have Amber with them.

* * *

"What the heck is happening outside at three o'clock in the morning?" Amber said and pointed to another screen that showed several vans arriving at the house. Everyone peered closer and they could see one man get out of a van and open the doors.

"It's just Lily's father's business," Paulo said.

"At three in the morning?" Li said and peered closer; the man had begun to unpack boxes from the van and was taking them down to a cellar.

"Do any of you remember Lily saying what her dad does?" Amber asked and the group shrugged but Paulo looked up.

"Something about exports and imports…?" Paulo recalled Lily saying when they first met her.

"I have a question," Hex looked at them all. "What kind of business goes ahead in such freak weather? That guy could get killed- it's getting pretty rough out there." Everyone contemplated this.

"Hex can you zoom in so that we can see what's in or printed on those boxes?" Amber asked and Hex smiled at her request and immediately began to click away. After about ten minutes, Amber was losing patience. Hex had tried everything; he'd even managed to hook his palmtop up to the security system to get a good look at things but-

"It's just not playing ball." He said quietly. Li stood up, she had been about to doze off next to Paulo on the floor.

"Well then I guess there's only one way to find out!" She shouted and put her hands on her hips; they all knew what she was thinking.

* * *

"And that was the last I saw of that guy." Lily said as she stared into the small fire in front of them.

"So he just vanished?" Alex found that difficult to understand. Lily turned to him and laughed.

"This is Peru. People vanish all the time."

"That's terrible." He shook his head. She had been recounting her stories as a child here. How when she was 12 and came over for the summer her childhood friend Pedro had just disappeared.

"I asked around but…nothing." Alex looked at her, her coffee coloured skin had dried now, even their clothes were beginning to lose their dampness, but he noticed that she hadn't cried. Which surprised him; she'd been through an awful lot.

"What about his family?" Alex asked, finally realising what kind of a place this was.

"His family?" She was thoughtful for a minute. "They kept their mouths shut-"

"Why?"

"He was probably in trouble with the police; it's difficult to be a kid here and not get involved in crime." She sighed. "It's OK though," she looked over to Alex and for a moment was lost in his grey eyes, she shook herself out of it. "Once you've been shipped off you lose connection to people here; I don't even know where my parents are now." She shivered even though it wasn't cold.

"Lily," Alex went to take her hand but she moved it away. He sighed and began to take the bandage of his hand.

"Is it better now?" She asked quietly and he nodded. There was a pause. "What about you?" She asked indifferently. But Alex shrugged.

"There's nothing really to say." In comparison to her life, his seemed relatively normal. Apart from the work he did with Alpha force of course, but he found that he didn't want her to know about it. Not yet anyway. She looked at him and smiled slightly, there was a hardness in his grey eyes that made it clear he hardly ever spoke of things like this. Alex noticed the same about her, even though he didn't say it.

* * *

"This is amazing." Hex whispered. Amber said nothing, she sat behind him, waiting patiently for a response from Li, Paulo sat even further behind her, lying lazily in a chair, he smoothed his hair back.

"Call it amazing one more time Hex and I swear I'll-"

"Ok, ok! Sorry." Hex muttered but even Amber could see the security system here was pretty good. Hex had given Li an ear piece and microphone so they could communicate, they were all surprised to find that Hex kept these things in his bag for emergency use. She decided against taking a torch because a) they didn't have one and b) she didn't want to be seen. They followed her movements on screens by use of an infrared camera; she couldn't see where she was going but the rest of the team could. Hex guided her to take the best path through Lily's garden. The storm had died down slightly but it was still pouring outside.

"Where do I go now?" They heard Li's voice on their speaker, it was muffled though but they could still make her out.

"Erm…" Hex glanced down to blueprints of the building and its grounds that they had found. "Right now she's here," he mumbled to Amber, "so she should-"

"Guys!" Li shouted, "Kind of cold. Can we hurry it up?"

"Follow the wall on your left till it stops," Amber said, better at instructing than Hex was. They saw Li put her left hand out and follow the wall, she stumbled slightly.

"It's pitch black out here…" She grumbled.

"You volunteered for this." Paulo snapped back; still annoyed that Li had said he'd slow her down. Li swore softly. "What was that for?" Paulo looked offended.

"No not you," Li whispered. Everyone peered at the screen, as Li turned the corner she was given some light by lamps at the front of the house, she needed to cross the drive and get to the other side. Right now she was stood underneath a canopy so she was shielded from the rain. The team leant in further and could see three men walking towards the building.

"Who is that?" Amber asked.

"It's Lily's dad!" Paulo said; recognising the suit the man was wearing. "Aren't they walking towards the room we locked Alex and Lily in?" Hex, Amber and Paulo exchanged frightened glances.

"Uh-oh," they heard Li whisper.

* * *

"How did you all meet?" lily asked, "You're all from different parts of the world. I can't believe I never asked." Alex smiled and told her that story; of course he left out the fact that they had been stranded. "So you're all just five best friends who get together during the school holidays?" For a moment Alex thought she must know; she talked in such an I-know-something-that-you-don't-know, tone.

"Yeah," Alex gritted his teeth; it was difficult to lie to her, "that's about it."

"What about in Northumbria?" She asked, still her eyes watched the flames as they danced in front of her.

"What about it?" He whispered; he too was captivated by the flames.

"Who've you got there?"

"Just mum, dad and me." He turned to face her and she looked round as she sensed his stare. She looked down shyly and Alex smiled, but the sadness in her eyes still showed as he tilted her face towards him. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment longer and Alex-

BANG. Both looked round as a sound came from outside the door.

* * *

DUN DUN DUN!!

well, its not that big a surprise.

review it!


	4. Chapter 4

"Li?" Amber asked uncertainly; everyone in the security room had heard the faint shot, unaware of where it had come from. Li had made no noise. They waited for a few moments that seemed to stretch on for eternity, staring at the small figure of Li that was crouched on the ground on the screen. Paulo snatched the microphone from the desk.

"Li?" He tried not to shout, but it was difficult when there was no response. Slowly, they could hear her irregular breathing. "Li…please…" Paulo whispered.

"Shot." Was all Li said quietly.

"Are you hurt Li?" Paulo asked; the men can't have seen her, she wouldn't be shot.

"No…" but her breathing still sounded forced.

"She's hyperventilating; she's in shock." Paulo threw the microphone to Amber, "I'm going to her." Amber and Hex nodded.

"Bring her back. We're leaving." Hex said and stood up, Amber glanced over at him somewhat impressed; this decisive Hex was different to the one she was used to. Paulo nodded, zipped up his jacket, grabbed another microphone and headphones and walked to the door; he glanced back at them.

"What about Alex and Lily?" He placed the headphones in his ears and hooked the speaker on his jacket.

"We'll think of something," Amber said and Paulo nodded. He left through the small door in the wall.

"Alex and Lily will have to wait," Hex said and Amber glanced back at the screen; two men walked into the 2nd dining room.

"There were three before." Amber commented and Hex sighed.

"Who do you think got shot?" Hex asked her and he saw her eyes widen at this.

* * *

"What was that?" Alex gasped and stood up.

"It sounded like a gunshot." Lily whispered back and stood next to him. They stared at the doors a few moments more before they realised someone from outside was trying to get in. They jumped as something thumped the door outside. "They're trying to get in." Lily pointed out the obvious but there was no sense of urgency in her voice. "Maybe we should hide?" She suggested and Alex nodded, both still shocked.

"Wait-what?" Alex looked over but Lily had already turned the fire off and was moving in the dim lit room towards the cupboard.

"You don't want anyone to find us in here alone. Especially my father." Alex still looked confused but moved into action as he heard another thud at the door. Alex stood behind Lily as she was shorter; Lily held the door to the cupboard open slightly to enable them to see the end of the table. For a moment they struggled fitting in as Lily moved but then she grabbed Alex's arms and wrapped them around herself; Alex was surprised to find this worked.

"Something else you've done before?" Alex whispered and she smirked, before she could reply the door to the dining room opened. They heard light footsteps on the marble floor.

"I'm so sorry about all this." Alex recognised the voice as Lily's father.

"That's quite alright." Another voice answered as the lgihts came on fully; one Alex didn't recognise. It was a male voice with a strong, Texan accent. Lily's father came into view as he took a seat at the head of the table, the other man sat next to him and only half his body was in view. He wore a white suit and pink shirt; he had a strong, big build and white hair. His face looked like it was permanently flushed. Lily's father wore a dark suit, and his usual cold, hard look. His eyes were blank unlike Lily's whose were welcoming and warm. In fact the only similarity Alex could sense was the tanned skin.

"I can't understand why the doors were locked or the lights; I'll have a word with security later." Her father stood up and walked over to the cupboard. Alex and lily tensed. They relaxed; he walked to the door next to the cupboard and shouted something in Spanish.

"You can just take care of them like you did with Lopez," the Texan man laughed, "that'll get rid of your problem all together." That booming laugh echoed around the room, Lily's father sat back down and smiled politely. "Anyway, business." Lily rolled her eyes; one word her father did understand.

"Again, forgive me. The late shipment is beneficial to no one but the shooting-"

"Forget about it Hector. No one could've helped it." He waved a beefy hand dismissively. "What I do want to know is what kind of samples you've got."

"Many-"

"Name them." Lily looked to her father; she wasn't used to seeing him being bossed around by anybody, but she hardly knew him anyway.

"The only one you'd be interested in is methamphetamine." Lily gasped and Alex moved his hand to her mouth to prevent her saying anything. They saw the Texan man come forwards, his eyes wide; staring at Lily's father in amazement.

"Well I'll be damned…" He whispered. "White gold."

* * *

"Left here, at the wall." Paulo heard Amber's voice in his ear. He nodded and moved along; taking the same path Li had taken. He turned onto the place that Amber and Hex could see on the screen and he saw Li's small frame crouched on the floor. He ran over to her and placed his arms around her. Her breathing, though still irregular, was better now.

"Li, breathe with me, can you feel the way my chest moves…?" He talked comforting things to her; cursing himself for not having a bag with him for her to use. She nodded and gripped his shirt, slowly her breathing returned to normal.

"Paulo." She whispered and began to cry quietly into his shirt. He rubbed her back reassuringly and glanced around; the rain was much lighter now, he could see better.

"Li, I need you to tell me what happened." He looked her in the eye and they were both thinking the same thing; a few hours ago they had been dancing and laughing with their friends, what the hell had happened to make things so different? A small arm pointed towards the place Paulo thought the body would be. It wasn't there.

"He was shot." She said quickly, "Some other guy he was with. Paulo!" she shook him to get his attention, he looked back down to her. "It was Lily's dad; he killed him."

* * *

"Where are they?" Amber hit Hex in annoyance and he scowled. They had turned the monitor back on to the 2nd dining room; Lily and Alex were not there but her dad and another man were. They seemed to be talking. "Doesn't this thing have sound?" Amber snapped.

"Yeah sure, lemme see…" Hex busied himself with the wiring. Amber had tried for the past few minutes not to glance at the screen where she thought the body would be. But the urge to check was too tempting. She glanced back at the screen; there was no body there.

"Hex.." But before she could say anymore, the main door to the security room opened; two men walked in, looking equally as shocked as Hex and Amber.

* * *

"It sure is." Hector said as a woman came in from another door and placed some foil in front of the Texan man.

"You…" The man stared in disbelief as he opened the foil to reveal a small pile of white powder; he took some between his fingers and rubbed it between them. "Good texture…" He commented, but Lily didn't hear much of it. She just stared in horror at his father; unbelieving that even he was capable of something like this. For a moment she though of coming out of the cupboard and screaming, screaming 8 years of built up hate at him. But she couldn't; Alex would be led into this and…there was a voice in her head that kept reminding her; _he's still your dad. _Alex and lily jumped as the man thumped his hand down on the table. "Good stuff!" He declared. "How much you got Hector?"

"How much are you giving?" He replied and allowed a small smile to appear on his face. "That sample alone is 5, 000 dollars." The man in the stained white suit laughed softly.

"Let's be reasonable-"

"I am." Hector replied. "1 kg is 100,00. That's a good price, believe me." He added quickly. "You said yourself; this is white gold." The other man scoffed.

"This is more expensive than any white gold I've come across!" He yelled, "What the heck, if you can sell it to me for that much I can sell it on for more!" Both men stood and shook hands. "I'll phone you in the morning to make proper arrangements. For shipping etc."

"That's fine." Hector replied and wiped his brow; the same maid came to show the Texan man out. Lily's father stood and contemplated for a moment. "Come out." He said Lily had heard his voice like this before; he was incredibly angry. "I said," he held out Alex's bandage that they had discarded on the floor, "COME OUT."

* * *

"Li, don't be stupid!" Paulo warned but she had already moved off.

"I'm not," she turned around to him and whispered back. "Look," she stopped and they crouched to talk without being seen. "Lily's our friend; she needs to know what her father's up to-"

"It's not our place!" Paulo sighed. That wasn't true; Lily was alone here, her family paid her no notice and her only friend had disappeared. They were all she had. "I just don't want to ruin her life." He said finally.

"Then don't follow me." Li said simply then walked away, Pedro grudgingly followed. They walked in silence for about five minutes till Li came to the back of a truck, it was open and there were boxes inside. "Come on," she whispered and heaved herself into the vehicle. Pedro did the same, once there they glanced around at all the boxes; they were given some light from a lamp nearby.

"What's in them?" Paulo asked and walked to a far off box to inspect. Li crouched next to him as he opened up a box. They both peered inside. "Is that-" But Paulo could not finished his sentence; the doors of the van closed. They heard the engine start up.

* * *

Lily pushed Alex's hands away from her, he held tightly for a moment but Lily applied more force on his hands and turned to him. he saw the quiet determination in her eyes and grudgingly let her go. Lily opened the door to the cupboard slightly and slipped out, Alex tried to follow but she closed the cupboard door quickly with her foot. Her father did not look at her; he threw the bandage to the floor. Lily jumped at his rash action but stood her ground.

"Mija…" Her father whispered.

"Dad." She said simply.

"What must you think of me?" He whispered, although Lily wasn't sure if he actually wanted her to answer.

"Still the same," she said with quiet anger. He glanced at her for the first time; his eyes giving her permission to say more. "Still the same power hungry, money hoarding, selfish and unloving man I call father."

"SELFISH?!" Her father roared and turned to her, "you think I am selfish?" His voice went down to a whisper, "I sent you away to get the best education for your future-"

"Which you funded by the proceeds you made in the drug trade?!" She shouted back. For a moment she thought her father would shout again but he didn't. He lashed out, striking her head; she cried out and fell, as she did her head in the table. Alex looked on in disgust as he saw her limp frame hit the floor, blood escaped a small wound on her head; she was unconscious. He thought for a moment of

"Mija," he crouched down next to her and picked up the bandage again; he wiped blood from her forehead. "I had hoped you wouldn't meet again like this," he sighed and Alex heard footsteps approaching the pair. He saw the figure of a boy, perhaps it was a man, and he couldn't see his face. He had a slim frame, slightly long dark hair and olive skin. His black suit fitted him perfectly; Alex guessed he must've been in this game for a long time. "Take her away." Her father waved a dismissive hand at Lily's body. The unknown boy crouched down to pick her up. "I trust you remember the way to her bedroom Pedro?"


	5. Chapter 5

Alex had to put a hand to his mouth to stop himself from gasping; the boy picked Lily up and turned right in front of the cupboard so Alex could see him. There was a roguish charm about the way he held himself upright; his school boy good looks and elegance were entirely different from the picture Lily had painted of him. He walked away from Alex and Lily's father; a drop of Lily's blood hit the floor in front of the cupboard and Alex moved further back into this small place as her father wiped it up. He muttered something to himself in Spanish before he too left the room. Alex was stunned, he didn't move for a few minutes until he was sure everything was clear; he wasn't just going to get out in front of her father, she had stopped him from doing that. He opened the door and walked out, trying hard not to look at the dark mark on the stone floor where her blood was spilled. He tried to think straight; all he knew was that he had to get everyone together, including Lily, and get out of here.

He walked over to the door Lily's father went through and peered around for anyone, he ducked back as he heard footsteps. A man's voice spoke quickly in Spanish to people Alex figured must be maids. Alex was no language expert but Lily and Paulo and Amber had given everyone a quick crash course so he got some of the words: "…los amigos…" _Friends, _Alex thought, trying to keep up as the man spoke faster. "…Encuentre…" _Find. _That was all Alex could work out but he got the gist; Lily's father was ordering the maids and security to find Lily's friends. He was about to move off when another voice joined the ones outside.

"Where are the rest of you?" Lily's father asked, Alex stopped, thinking he was talking to him.

"We told you," said a defiant Amber, "we don't know." Alex heard Hector swear under his breath.

"What were you going in the Security room?" He shouted back.

"Watching a film." Hex said in equal exasperation, glad he'd managed to erase the past 3 hours of it and replace it with a movie.

"We'll just check the security tapes then." Alex heard them walk away, "follow me." So that must be Hex and Amber; they were going to view the security tapes which meant they were going back to the security room. Lily had mentioned it, where was it? Up. She had pointed up. Ok so, Hex and Amber are fine, for now. Lily is in her room, with Pedro. So where the heck were Li and Paulo? Alex cursed softly; who should he go after first?

* * *

"What should we do?" Li whispered loud enough over the roar of the engine. Paulo contemplated for a moment before he opened a box and stood up. He took out his phone and switched it on. "What're you doing?" She stood up with him and saw he was taking pictures of the contents of the boxes; clear bags of white powder.

"Text everyone, tell them where we are." Paulo instructed and Li knew from his tone that she should do as instructed. "Tell them to get Lily and for Hex to track the movement of the van through us." He pointedly took out a key ring from his pocket; it was the tracking device each of them had. "Then to follow us; bring all the equipment-"

"You're not planning on revealing Lily's dad to the police are you?" Li was shocked at Paulo's change of heart.

"There's not much of a choice anymore Li; you know what Lily's like, she deserves to know." Li nodded at this.

"But Paulo…someone died. _Died." _She trembled at the memory of seeing the body fall. Paulo looked consoling for a moment.

"It's OK to be scared Li-"

"I'm not scared." _I'm terrified. _

"There's too much at stake here to be worried about things like that. We've been through stuff like this before; we can do it again." She sighed and went to _new message, _on her phone and began to text everyone. A few minutes passed where Paulo ensured he had pictures on his phone of pretty much everything in the van.

"Damn…" Li whispered.

"What?" Paulo looked over to her.

"Lost signal." She waved her phone in the air in vain hope to regain connection.

"Did you get through to anyone?" He asked and she nodded.

"It said it sent to Alex before it lost it." She grimaced in annoyance.

"That's fine; so long as somebody knows." He said calmly and sat down again.

* * *

Alex's phone vibrated against his leg as he crouched behind a table; luckily there was no one around to hear it and he removed his mobile from his pocket. He opened up the new message and his heart leapt; it was from Li.

_Pedro and I are in one of the van's that left Lily's house. Hex, follow us with the tracker. Everyone come asap. Li, x._

He smiled and hoped they were safe; that sorted one problem out, now he just had to figure out how to get to the security room without being seen. Men and women rushed about the place; looking for the three that were left to round up. Alex was grateful Li and Paulo were out of the way but he himself was stuck. Just as he had given up hope he heard a group of people making a commotion on the stairs outside the room Alex was in.

"Take them to their room here; lock them in and do nothing to them until I give word." Lily's father's voice was full of all the authority he lacked at his "business meeting." "The others must still be in the town; we'll wait for them to come back. Until then, everyone get back to bed and have at least three men stood outside the gates." He dismissed his workers and walked away from Hex and Amber; leaving them with two male security staff.

"What about Lily?" Amber shouted to him and he stopped walking. "What're you going to tell her?" He turned to Amber.

"I gave her back the only person she ever loved; she'll be too grateful to care." He said nonchalantly.

"You don't know your own daughter." Hex said and everyone was surprised to hear him say this, even Alex had a glance around the table leg to be sure it was him. "Lily would never accept what you're doing-"

"How do you know, boy?"

"Because she's a good person." Hex replied and, with a surprising air of confidence walked away; it took a moment for the men to realise they should take him to his room and they ran after him; dragging Amber with them.

* * *

Luckily, Alex new exactly what window their room was on the house. He had managed to get into the kitchens, at four in the morning no one was around. This led him to a back door which he crawled out of and now he was sat under a tree opposite the house. Their room was on the second floor; how was he going to…but his thoughts were answered when he saw Amber open the window and look out. He took out his phone and dialled her number.

"Hello, Alex?" Said a frightened voice.

"Hey Amber, he whispered back.

"Alex! Where are you? Are you OK? Where's lily?" Amber screeched and Alex had to move the phone away from his ear to prevent himself going deaf.

"Stop screaming and look out the window." He waved as she did so and saw her drop the phone.

"Damn it," he heard and smiled as Hex too came to the window.

"I need to get up to you guys-"

"How the heck're you gonna-"

"Go to Li's bags," Alex cut across Hex, "she has her climbing equipment."

"You're not serious..." He heard Amber mutter but both Hex and Amber knew Alex wouldn't joke like this.

"Yeah I am." He thought fast; "Amber, while Hex gets that ready-"

"But what if someone sees you?!" She shrieked.

"They won't; Lily's dad told everyone to go to bed and he only has men guarding the entrance of the house." He said quickly, "Amber go to the door, the code to open it is 4665. Check no one is guarding your room." He said and began to move towards the building as he could see Hex was near enough ready.

"What if there is someone?"

"Just ask him why he didn't lock the door; they don't know I know the code. Don't worry just do it. I'll explain everything when I get up there; we just need to find Lily and get out of here." Alex looked up as Hex passed a rope down.

"Coast is clear." Amber said; she'd opened the door and peered out.

"Right, see you in a minute." Alex ended the call, shoved his phone in his pocket and began to climb the rope. It was easier here than it was in any place he'd climbed before; the storm had died down and there was just a warm breeze that unsettled his movement. He reached the window faster than he thought he would; Hex heaved him in. "thanks," Alex gasped as he fell into the room.

"Don't mention it," Hex replied.

"Ok, spill." Amber said, she stood with her hands on her hips and Hex joined her. Everyone sat down and Alex informed them of what happened and they told him their story. "So now what?" Amber asked when they had worked out how everything fitted together.

"We get Lily and go to Paulo and Li." Hex said simply, he took out his palmtop and wiped the screen with a cloth; Amber rolled her eyes. "I'll get on to tracking the other two." Alex nodded at him.

"Good," he ran a hand through his blonde hair, "now to get to Lily. That's the easy part." They all stood and gathered up their belongings; they had to discard unnecessary items such as extra clothes to which Amber protested. "There's no time!" Alex whispered urgently and she merely pouted.

"Ready?" Amber asked and turned to them, they nodded and walked to the door; Amber opened it and peered outside.

* * *

"A La Nanita Nana Nanita Ella Nanita Ella," Lily could hear a voice singing softly a lullaby she used to know. But there was a pain in her head that made it difficult to understand what the words meant. Something cold touched her head and, what she assumed was water, ran down the side of her face. She only just began to realise how tired she was, it must be about four or five in the morning by now; she wanted to sleep. But there was something, something in the back of her mind telling her to wake up, that she still had something to do. With much effort she opened her eyes and saw someone above her in the darkness of her room, at first she thought it was Alex; but Alex doesn't speak, let alone sing, Spanish. The figure reached out a hand and she recoiled but instead it turned on a lamp next to her. She looked at the boy in front of her; a vague sense of familiarity came to her. She appraised the olive skin, hazel eyes and dark hair; there was something so certain about the way he looked at her. "Lily?" Her eyes widened; only he ever said her name like that.

"Pedro?" She whispered but in an instant threw her arms around him and for the first time in a long time, Lily began to cry. His hand went instinctively to her hair and stroked it.

"I'm sorry, I left you." As he said this she moved away and he found it difficult to look at her tear stained face.

"Why did you go?" She put her head on his chest and he was thankful he didn't have to look at her eyes. "Where did you go?" She sobbed into his shirt. "I searched, for the entire summer." She whispered. "I gave up."

"I'm sorry," was all he said. "Let me look at you." He said, aware she had stopped crying. She moved back and he smiled, he hadn't seen her in years, he always knew she'd end up pretty. "you've changed." He commented and she laughed.

"So have you!" She hit his arm in that way he remembered. She looked him up and down, "you're thin!" He laughed.

"Whoa now. I was never not thin to begin with." But he smiled as she laughed again.

"yeah you were…not…" she was confused at the phrasing he'd used before. "And your hair," she yanked it to see if it were real.

"Ouch…" she remembered how he used to wince whenever she pulled his hair when they were younger. He took her hand from his head and kissed it, she withdrew from his grasp immediately.

"When did you become such a charmer?" She said slyly but with a bit of venom; Lily didn't like such affection; perhaps she just wasn't used to it.

"And when did you become so shy to my touch?" He leant forwards and she moved further back. "It's not like I've never kissed you before Lily." He said softly and she found herself hooked onto his hazel eyes, not wanting to look away but there was something telling her not to look, not to be tempted. There was something…someone…why couldn't she think straight? Pedro took that extra inch and kissed her.

"Lily?" they heard a quiet voice say, they broke apart and looked around; Alex, Amber and Hex were stood in the doorway.


	6. Chapter 6

"No, Lily!" Amber shrieked and everyone took a step away from her. "No don't ruin it; everything was going so good!" She looked at Lily with such disappointment the other girl almost apologised, before she realised she had no idea what Amber was talking about.

"Amber, wha-"

"There's no time." Alex took a step into the lamp light and Lily cursed herself; the unknowing voice in her head was reminding her of Alex. Damn.

"Alex," she began again but was silenced by a look from him.

"Let her go." He addressed Pedro and Lily looked around, her bright eyes held confusion.

"Let me go?" Lily almost laughed but her face fell as Pedro looked away from her in shame. "What…what's happening?" She put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at her again; not wanting to tell her.

"Tell her then." Alex said and everyone could hear the hidden anger in his voice. "Tell her what you are, who you work for." Lily glanced back at Alex who was determined not to look at her, he stared ahead at Pedro. Lily's eyes narrowed.

"What's he talking about?" There was a plea in her voice that made everyone aware of how heartbroken she was; in the past few hours her world was being torn apart. For a brief moment Alex wanted to tell Pedro to stop, not to tell Lily, not to destroy absolutely everything she had left.

"I work for your father," Lily took a step away from Pedro as he said this and shook her head. "I," he searched for the right word, "remove those who are detrimental to his business."

"That's just a fancy way of saying you kill people who argue with him. Isn't it?" He didn't look at her, "ISN'T IT?" He nodded. "So three years ago, when you disappeared, you didn't go anywhere, you were here all along, training to become a…killer." She hit his chest with a fist but he didn't flinch. "You were fourteen-" But she stopped as he shook his head and smiled at her.

"You're so naïve." He sighed, "to your father I wasn't fourteen, I wasn't a boy; I was just another poor street kid." He spat at her. "You were fine in London Lily and when you came back for summer it was like…" Lily's eyes softened as he looked at her, "it was like living in a dream for a while. But when you went I was stuck in some God forsaken reality." He turned away and looked out of her bedroom window, "your dad offered me things my own parents couldn't; a safe place to sleep at night, protection, food. Money." Lily looked down and blinked away angry tears.

"But you didn't have to…you know how many lives are ruined, or even ended, because of the trade my father is in? And you're helping him." She looked back up, "I don't know you." She whispered and took a step back.

"Lily, please-"

"You disgust me." She said finally. As she walked back she bumped into Alex, neither said a word to the other but Alex took an instinctive step around Lily so he was stood between her and Pedro. Pedro calmly appraised Alex's actions and his hands moved to the waistband of his trousers from which he removed a gun. Everyone held their breath.

"I take it you're the ones Hector is after?" Pedro said and pointed the gun to Alex who, although trying desperately to get his legs to move, found he could not. Pedro ran a hand through his dark hair wearily; everyone could tell he'd been through this before.

"Pedro," Lily said and stepped in line with Alex. "Don't. Please don't." They could all see the conflict that Pedro was going through.

"What makes him so special?" Pedro said suddenly and Lily blushed.

"They're all special to me," she said, "you owe me something Pedro; you can't deny that I deserve a favour from you. After how you lied to me." He cursed softly and lowered the gun.

"Name it." He said in defeat.

"Let them go." He laughed.

"Seriously, Lily? You think the world's that simple? That life is that easy?"

"No." She said firmly, "I think you love me enough not to do it." She doubted what she said but went along with it anyway, Alex shifted uncomfortably beside her. Pedro stared at her a moment longer.

"Will you stay?" He asked. She looked back at Amber and Hex; both had no idea what was best. Everyone was suddenly aware that they were just kids, caught up in some crazy adult game that no one should be a part of. Alex glanced Pedro up and down; he had to be at least seventeen, sucked into this by poverty. Lily looked at Alex; he didn't even acknowledge her stare and Lily sighed.

"I will."

"Well then you better say quick goodbyes before I change my mind." Pedro said and Lily turned to Hex and Amber, they walked towards her. Everyone stood in awkward silence for a moment before Amber embraced Lily.

"Thanks." Amber whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's OK." Lily whispered back, she lowered her voice, "get out of here as quickly as you can." Amber let go of Lily and Hex took a step forwards.

"Here," he held out a small key ring, "I bought this for you yesterday." He said rather sheepishly and lily had to fight down the desire to laugh but when she saw the earnest in his eyes she sighed and hugged him. "Ah!" She heard him gasp from such affection and she laughed. She let go of him faster than she had Amber, knowing he was uncomfortable. Lily turned to Alex, his grey eyes flicked up to her brown ones quickly.

"Catch you later, Lily." He said quietly and walked away. Amber looked like she was going to say something-

"Don't." Hex said simply and the three of them left the room.

* * *

Li couldn't understand how Paulo could sleep at a time like this; the road they were travelling on was bumpy and swerved dangerously. It was like all the roads in Peru! How could anyone find this a comfortable place and a good situation to sleep in? She watched him for a while, still marvelling at his resilience. She thought of Alex, Amber, Hex and Lily at the mansion, she hoped they were OK and on their way. She pushed her dark hair away from her face and smiled; wondering if Alex managed to get anywhere with Lily. It was nice for Alex to have someone for once, even though none of them admitted it, the other four of their group had formed their own chemistries. There was herself and Paulo, a weird mischievous relationship had formed there, and Hex and Amber…she grinned; that was a problem all in itself. Her thoughts were interrupted as the van began to slow down; she crawled over to Paulo and hit him.

" Ow…" he said but woke up instantly. He blinked up to the figure of Li before remembering what was going on. "Where are we?" He whispered and she hit him again to make him shut up as they heard the doors to the van open; they ducked down behind boxes so they were obscured from view. They heard some men, at least two, talking rapidly in Spanish. The men took a box each from the van and walked away.

"We have to go now," Li said and went to stand up but Paulo grabbed her arm, "we don't know where we are or when their coming back." Paulo thought for a moment.

"They're going to be unloading these boxes to wherever they need to go, I say wait and see how long it takes them to come back, that way we know how much time we've got." Li smiled at his thinking and sat back. After, Li had counted, 7 minutes and 14 seconds, the men returned, still their conversation flowed and this made it easier for Paulo and Li to breathe at a normal rate.

"Ok," Li stood and began to make her way through the boxes, Paulo followed in her wake. They looked out and when they were sure no one was around they jumped out of the van. In the darkness they could make out the huge building in front of them, there were a few lamps lit around the area and it took them a moment to realise where they were.

"There's something seriously wrong here," Paulo whispered and Li nodded, both smiled in confusion.

* * *

"That girl totally played all of us! Alex I wouldn't worry about her; she's such a little…" Amber searched for the right word but seeing Alex's face she was immediately silenced.

"Sorry, mate." Hex said quietly. They were stood in the darkness of the hall outside of Lily's room; they had taken a moment of silence to get over the events that had just happened. Alex was thankful for the dim lit hall; no one could see his face darken.

"She got us out of there." He said and began to walk away, "we should be grateful for that." The other two began to follow him.

"Alex," Amber began; knowing that Alex was one of those people who never talked about how they felt but there was something in the way he spoke that told her this was a time when it was needed. "it's ok to be angry with her-"

"We need to get to Li and Paulo." Alex whispered, completely ignoring Amber's comment.

"Alex-" Amber tried again but Hex shot her a warning look and she was silenced.

"Hex," Alex turned back to them and they realised that in Alex's anger he had merely walked on, as far away from Lily as possible, he had no intention of taking them anywhere and it showed in his eyes. "Where're we going?" He said in defeat. Hex realised what his grey eyed friend was talking about and took out his palmtop from its casing in his bag.

"It looks like they're…no way." He said and peered closer at the screen.

"What?" Amber and Alex leant forwards and hex looked up at them; a bemused smile on his face.

"They're at the museum."

* * *

Lily stood at her window, looking down onto her garden, watching the gate, waiting to see her friends leave. The sun was beginning to rise and pink streaks were scattered across a starry sky. It was cold in the mornings and she shivered slightly, but when Pedro put an arm around her she shrugged it off. He sighed and turned her to face him.

"Would you like me to apologise again?" He asked and she looked at him blankly.

"Are you still here?" She asked and his handsome face fell, he flicked hair out of his eyes in a vain manner and Lily scoffed. Pedro noticed this and his eyes flared up immediately.

"You know your father will find them, no matter where they're headed," he spat at her. "He might kill them." She wiped her eyes suddenly.

"Get out of my room." She said it but it felt as if this place was not hers anymore; this world she inhabited was no strange to her. He held her hands and was hopeful as he found she did not shy away from him. "I had no one," she whispered and Pedro's guilt filled him again, "and now you come back, telling me how you could kill my friends if you wanted to." She seemed to be thinking things over.

"Who was that boy?" Pedro asked suddenly, Lily thought of playing dumb but it wasn't worth it.

"He was someone…" her voice trailed away, "but he won't want to know me anymore." Pedro tilted her chin up so he could look her in the eyes.

"Why not?" He whispered and she hit his hand away.

"Because of you!" She shouted and was suddenly angry, "just get out." She said loudly, hoping in vain someone would hear her and rescue her from this prison. She looked at him and seemed to realise something, her eyes softened and she ran to her cupboard.

"What're you doing?" Pedro looked at her sternly as she sifted through her wardrobe to find a backpack.

"I'm leaving." She said to a dumbfounded Pedro.

"you think I'm going to let you?" She looked at him and he tried to look defiant in front of her but he found it difficult to say much.

"Yeah," She stuffed random items into her bag. "You are going to let me." She walked towards him, "you're not going to tell anyone and you're not going to follow me." She walked past him and threw some more things into her bag from the top of her dressing table.

"You sound like your father-" He stopped as she turned to him but what shocked him was that she wasn't angry, but upset.

"Never liken me to that man." She shook herself from her melancholy and went to the window.

"Will you think for a minute!?" Pedro grabbed her and shoved her against the wall, he pinned her there and was not even moved by the frightened look in her eyes. "Where are you going to go? What are you going to tell your mother? You have nothing Lily! Nothing!" He realised he'd gone to far and took a step back from her.

"I felt like I had everything." She whispered, "a few hours ago…and you know what?" She went back to the window and raised herself so she crouched on the ledge, "I'm going to get it all back."

* * *

That was really awful- sorry! But I thought I better update soon- there will be much action next time :D


	7. Chapter 7

Amber looked to Hex who in turn looked to Alex for some sort of plan of action. His grey eyes focused on a point behind Hex and Amber could see him working things out. His ran a hand through his hair and he nodded as he rechecked his plan.

"OK." He looked back at them book and lowered his voice, "we're gonna get out of the house the same way I got in." He walked into another room and opened the window, Amber and Hex followed.

"We're going to shimmy down a rope?" Amber looked dubious but then smiled, "alright, it's beginning to feel like what I'm used to!" She smiled and began to take rope out of her bag.

"So we're just going to leave Lily?" Hex said uncertainly, he hovered at the doorway and Amber felt a guilty pang in her stomach, both Amber and Alex ignored his comment and went about their preparation. "Guys," he said quietly, "no one deserves to just be left in this place." He gained a little confidence as he spoke and Amber stopped what she was doing to look at him. "Especially someone like lily; she was kind to us, she let us into her home…" Hex spoke louder to address Alex. "I'm sorry about what she did to you Alex-"

"What're you talking about?" Alex mumbled, but Hex's usual quite manner left him for a moment.

"This isn't the time to be embarrassed or immature about things." He said loudly, now Alex was shocked by Hex's sudden change in character and looked him in the eye. Hex faltered his old self coming back. Amber too cocked an eyebrow; what had gotten into Hex recently? He'd been acting strange for a while now. "What I mean is," Hex lowered his voice, "he has a gun-"

"He loves her," Alex turned back to the window. "He won't touch her." Alex tested his weight on the rope. "It's about a half an hour walk to the museum, someone text Li and Paulo, tell them we're on our way." Alex crouched on the window ledge; he secured his backpack and glanced back at Hex and Amber. "She'll be fine." He said in answer to their worried looks and perhaps even to reassure himself. "C'mon guys." He jumped from the window ledge.

* * *

Paulo grabbed Li around the middle and dragged her away to hide behind the side of the building; the men were walking back to the van. Li and Paulo watched as the men took another box from the van and walked away. The two teenagers relaxed.

"What do we do now?" Li whispered and Paulo thought for a minute. As his face screwed up in thought Li felt a vibration against her leg; she went to a trouser pocket and retrieved her mobile phone. "It's Hex," she scanned the message as quickly as possible and put her phone back in case its light attracted anyone. "Him, Alex and Amber are on their way; they'll be here in half an hour." She looked over to Paulo, "he didn't mention Lily." Paulo shrugged.

"He might've just forgot or maybe she wants to stay in her home." He put a reassuring arm around her as she still looked upset by this. "We may as well wait for the others to get here." He said and she nodded, they made themselves comfortable against the wall and waited.

* * *

Pedro went to pull her from the window but Lily moved fast; she stood, as she did she swung her leg into Pedro's stomach. He was so shocked by her action he didn't even register her hand move towards his gun; he finally became aware of what was happening when he realised Lily had the gun aimed straight between his eyes.

"How did you…?" He whispered and she smiled, there was something in her eyes that told him she wasn't too unfamiliar to this situation.

"What do you think they teach me at school-?"

"What- do you go to some school formed by MI6?" Pedro relaxed slightly; although lily faced him with a gun she was not the kind of person to harm unnecessarily. She laughed quietly.

"The traditions of my school include shooting." She cocked the gun and Pedro took a step back. "While my friends enjoyed the pleasantries of rifle shooting I found more comfort with an automatic." The boy almost laughed at how their situation had changed so fast. Lily took a quick glance out of the window.

"As soon as you leave I'm calling your father." Pedro slowly took his mobile phone out of his pocket and held it up.

"Go ahead." She said quietly, "I've been able to escape from this house in less than five minutes, since I was able to run." He nodded, remembering running through the house with her. They stood for a few moments, both longing to be the people they used to be, but time had moved on, they'd grown up and gone their different ways. It was sad, but a friendship they figured would last forever, was over. Pedro seemed to give up and turned away, as if not wanting to see it when she walked out of his life. Lily raised the gun, her hand shook slightly but she took aim anyway, she pulled the trigger and closed her eyes.

* * *

Apologies for the shortness!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, just to let you all know there is no major secret behind Hex's actions; it'll become obvious why he's acting strange, it should be obvious already but…yeah- just don't expect major gasps.

:D

* * *

Pedro opened his eyes; when he'd heard the shot he instinctively went to the floor. His body froze, partially from the shock that Lily had actually fired the gun. But looking around he saw the shattered remains of his mobile phone; she had just stopped him from calling her father. He stood quickly and went to the window; looking down he saw the figure of Lily climb over the wall.

"Lily?" Pedro looked around, a maid had come into the room; it was evident she had just woken up. She gasped at the sight of Pedro who checked his watch; 6 am; everyone in the house would be waking up now. Pedro shouted some instructions to the maid in Spanish; she nodded quickly and left the room. A few minutes later, after Pedro had scooped up and thrown away his phone, Lily's father walked into the room.

"Where is she?" He snarled and walked up to Pedro who mumbled something. Lily's father hit Pedro's face with the back of his hand. Pedro stumbled slightly but regained balance. Hector put his hands on his hips and sighed. The young boy in front of him rubbed his cheek; his olive skin flushed. "…perdóneme.," _(A/N: "forgive me,") _Hector held up his arms and embraced Pedro. He let him go and Hector sat down on the bed, Pedro knelt in front of him.

"What're we gonna do?" Pedro asked and Hector glanced at him.

"_You _are going to get her back. Follow her, wherever she's gone. Just get her back here." Hector stood up and Pedro did too, "I have a meeting this morning at the factory," he walked over to the door and was about to leave but he turned back. "Her friends, do we know where they are?" He looked Pedro in the eye and Pedro averted his own_. I think you love me enough not to do it. _

"No." Pedro shook his head as Lily's voice could be heard within him. Hector nodded;

"Well, get on with it; I'll phone you later-"

"I don't have a phone." Hector raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you have a phone?" He asked plainly, Pedro took a moment to answer.

"Lily broke it." Pedro nodded towards the bin; Hector looked in it and swore.

"How the hell did she do that?" Pedro was silent, "just go." Hector waved a dismissive hand. Pedro nodded and left the room after him.

* * *

"Li don't fall asleep." Paulo whispered and nudged her; she awoke with a start and looked wildly around before relaxing back onto his shoulder. She brushed dark hair from her face and they both shivered; it was around sunrise, 6. 20 am, and it was colder than usual. Around 10 minutes ago they had seen the van leave the area; it was probably driving back to the house. They both knew that the town woke at seven am, they had 40 minutes until the museum opened and people entered it; they had those 40 minutes to get everything they needed from this place. They just had to wait for-

"Amber!" Li shouted and put a hand to her mouth quickly. Three figures emerged from the morning mist, they walked slowly in the distance but Li and Paulo knew their friends well enough to be sure it was them. "Hex…" Li looked at the figure next to Amber, "Alex…" She shook her head. "Nope, no Lily." She said tentatively. Amber ran forwards to her friends, Hex and Alex walked on after. There was a look that passed between Alex and Hex that did not go unnoticed by Li. "What's happened?" She asked, Amber sighed and told them what had happened, omitting the angered moments between Hex and Alex. Paulo said something in Spanish that sounded like a swear word.

"…Mierde…" He kicked a rock by his foot and looked over to Alex, he could tell by the look his friend gave him that there was nothing left to say.

"Sorry, Alex." Li whispered but Alex shrugged indifferently.

"We need to get inside." Alex said and walked away, everyone stood for a few moments in silence, perhaps waiting in vain hope for Lily to turn up. "You coming?" Alex had come back and everyone nodded. They moved off.

* * *

This had to be in the top ten of the most stupid decisions ever made. She had no money, no other clothes apart from the black dress she was in, all she had was a gun, some random items from her room and the key ring Hex had given her, which she carried in her hands now; it was quite big for a normal key ring; about double the size. She had no idea where she was walking too; she hadn't even phoned her mother who was abroad. But then, would her mother even care that much? Now that Lily thought about it she couldn't really picture her mother's face. She remembered she was a good, kind, beautiful person; she cared in comparison to Lily's father.

Lily patted her thigh; she had placed the safety catch of the gun on and tied it with a red ribbon to her leg. Peru was not the kind of place you want to be found walking around openly with a gun in your hands. She glanced down at the key ring Hex had given her, she smiled, it was a nice little gadget. It showed the time (6.24 am), the temperature (6ºC), a map of Peru and a little red light that showed the capital; Lima. She stopped walking along the dirty and rocky road and walked to a palm tree that was a little way off; she sat down and the helplessness of her situation overwhelmed her for a moment. Tears entered her eyes but she stopped them from spilling; it was her fault she was here, she couldn't just cry about it.

At least she had a map of Peru; she could get to Lima, or….she glanced at the key ring again…Li. Whatever town that was. On second thought, she'd _never _heard of that town. She peered closer at the key ring; she looked at the tiny inscriptions there and laughed out loud. What she had taken to be a map of Peru was a map of Abancay; the little red lights were not major cities: they were people. Their names overlapped now because they were all in the same place. She didn't need to read the name to know where they were; she knew this place too well. She stood; a sudden excitement ran through her veins as she ran in the direction of her friends. Clutching the key ring in her hands she smiled as she ran, thinking all the way: _Hex really is a brilliant boy. _She made a mental note to hug him when they met again.

* * *

Alpha force walked with caution around to the back of the museum. Alex was at the front, leading the rest of the group while Paulo remained at the back. They all walked as quietly as they could, although the sounds of the morning were already beginning; trucks were starting up in the distance and the music that usually inhibited the place was coming back too.

"Did you see where they put the boxes?" Alex whispered to Li who was behind him.

"No," she said slightly ashamedly, "it was too risky-"

"But you're sure they came into the museum?" Li nodded. They came across a back door, it was bolted shut and they could see it was too secure to get open. They all sighed in annoyance; they'd come all this way to be shut out?

"No," Amber pointed to something lower and beside that door, "there's another one." They all looked and could see that there was another, smaller, broken door that seemed a lot easier to get into. They all glanced at each other. Li took a step towards the door and peered in.

"Perhaps we should send someone in first alone." She moved the door aside, "it'd have to be someone small just in case…" She turned back to them and they all smiled. "Alright, alright," she held up her hands in defeat.

"What do you see?" Paulo asked as Li crouched at the door, she looked back at them all.

"There's enough space for anyone to fit, the stairs here will let us go down into the factory." They all shared a quick glance of shock before wanting to see themselves. "Whoa whoa!" Li said as they pushed her out of the way.

"Oh my…" Amber peered through the door to see, below them, lines of plants beneath long, low lights. At the sides of the room, on long tables were bags of white powder, and in the far corner a machine that was built into the wall. "How can all this be in the basement of a museum that people come into so often?" She gasped.

"We need to get evidence." Alex said and everyone nodded; they took out their cameras, Hex had a video camera. They all walked down into the dimly lit room, they were silent as they worked, taking pictures, gaining as much footage as they could to stop this.

"This is insane." Hex said quietly and, although no one replied, they all agreed.

"What was that?" Paulo whispered and they all froze to listen. Footsteps. Getting louder, coming to this room. They looked at one another in horror before realising that this room was so open there was no where to hide. They stuffed their cameras into their bags and all ran towards the stairs but it was too late. The double doors to the room opened and Hector and a few others entered, equally as shocked as Alpha, to find other people in the room. Three men in dark suits entered after Lily's father.

"Get them." He said quietly and Alpha force knew not to run as the men took out guns. One man grabbed both Li and Amber, another took Paulo and the last one grabbed Alex and Hex's arms. "Take them to different rooms. I'm busy now; I'll deal with them all later." And so Alpha force was dragged away from the factory. They walked out of the basement of the museum and were surprised to find the there were more corridors and rooms under the museum. Li and Amber were thrown into a room, the boys shouted and Paulo shouted something at the men in Spanish; it earned him a punch in the stomach to which Hex and Alex remained silent as they saw the man lift his gun to them; daring them to say something. Their heads fell in defeat and the men smiled; after they had taken Paulo into a room, Hex, Alex and the last suited man walked away.

* * *

They entered another room, empty apart from a bench that became illuminated by lamplight as the man turned it on. He threw them to the middle of the room and knelt beside them, he twisted their arms back and tied them together, the pain subsided after a while and no one said anything. Alex looked up at the man with angered eyes but all he got in response was a smile. Hex and Alex sat back to back and he man then tied the rope he used to the bench which was nailed to the floor, he threw their bags to a corner of the room and left them. Hex and Alex struggled silently for a few minutes with the rope but they gave up.

"Maybe I can get my knife…" Alex said but tried in vain to reach it from his pack. He gave up and almost shouted in frustration.

"Alex, chill out-"

"Chill out?!" The usual calm ambiance Alex held left him as he tried to turn around to look at Hex.

"Why're you acting so weird?" Hex asked quietly.

"I'm just….I'm just angry ok?! I'm just tied up on the floor in a foreign country! I'm…" Alex's head slumped forwards, "I don't even know."

"That's not why you're angry." Hex said and again Alex realised a change in his character too; an air of confidence came to Hex as he spoke.

"How would you know what I'm angry about?" Alex retorted; realising now that he had lost his cool. He felt slightly ashamed; it was situations like this people usually looked up to him in.

"You're angry that we left Lily-"

"Will you leave Lily out of this?" Alex asked in a dangerous whisper.

"No." Hex said and tried to turn to Alex. "Not until you stop being such a…"

"Such a what Hex?" Alex turned and they could just see each other now. There was an anger in Alex's eyes that unnerved Hex; an anger he'd never seen before.

"Why don't you just admit it hurt you when you saw her kissing Pedro?" Alex looked away. "I mean, I know you're not like that Alex, you don't like to talk about it. But why can't you just show it, for once-"

"Since when were you into talking about it?" Alex asked quietly.

"Since I saw the way that she looked at you." Alex shivered; this was awkward. Of all the people to talk about this to, he wouldn't have guessed it'd be Hex. "I just…you can't let something like that go Alex." He said to the wall opposite, "Will you for once tell someone how you feel? Just tell her-"

"You make me sound subhuman." Alex laughed and stared at the blank wall opposite, "as though I'm incapable of showing emotion."

"That's not what I mean mate, I just don't want you to throw it away." Alex laughed.

"You're one to talk; not telling a girl about how you feel-"

"What do you mean by that?" hex whipped his head round so fast he got a crick in his neck. He winced from the pain and heard Alex laugh again.

"It's not exactly a well kept secret hex." Alex taunted him, "When exactly is Amber going to find out how you feel?" Alex waited for the fireworks to come but nothing happened; Hex was silent.

"Don't change the subject." Hex said eventually, "this is about you and Lily." Alex said nothing and Hex sighed. "I see Amber loads; you might never see Lily again-"

"Perhaps that's best." Alex said and Hex was shocked. "Lily and I come from completely different worlds. Anyway, how the heck can I be with Lily and hang out with you guys? She doesn't know what we do Hex…she wouldn't want to hang around, waiting for me to get back."

"Dude," Hex whispered, "have you never read Harry Potter? Or seen Spiderman?" Alex laughed.

"This isn't a book or a film." He sighed, "I'm sorry Hex-"

"For what?"

"For getting angry, I was just-"

"Mad because you realised, actually you just think, that you and Lily could never be together?" Alex cringed at the statement but nodded. "And you regret not saying anything and jsut blanking her the last time you saw her?" Alex nodded again.

"Yeah," he said, realising Hex couldn't see him.

"I think that's rubbish-"

"At least I have a vaguely credible reason not to say anything to her! You've got no good reason not to tell Amber!" Alex shifted to become more comfortable.

"There are SO many reasons not to tell her Alex," Hex said, refusing to deny it to one of his best friends. Alex put his head back and hit Hex's head. "What was that for?" Hex asked, even though it had not hurt him at all.

"Yeah, reasons as in: _I don't think she'll like me back? _That's ridiculous." Alex said.

"It's not!" Hex said, suddenly angry, "there are more reasons!" He tried to think of them, "what if she didn't; then how awkward will our friendship be? It'd ruin everything cause…for one stupid moment I thought she could like me." Hex hung is head.

"Whoa….Hex." Alex turned to him, "I reckon she likes you-"

"you do?" Alex nodded.

"We've been friends long enough to know what each others thinking." Alex said. "Is that why you've been acting so weird?" Alex asked suddenly and Hex looked at him.

"What?"

"All the sudden confidence gaining?" Alex laughed, "I get it now. You saw me and Lily together-"

"And it just reminded me I should tell Amber…yeah, yeah….you got it in one." Hex sighed, "so I tried to act a bit more….you know, confident, to get her to notice me a bit more." Alex laughed again.

"Dude, she's never not noticed you."

"Really?" Hex looked over to Alex in earnest and Alex nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments, "I'll tell Amber, if you tell Lily." Alex contemplated.

"No Hex," Alex shook his head, "she'll know I lied. She won't want to know me." He gritted his teeth, "its better if she doesn't get involved with me; I'd just let her down; travelling around with you guys and then seeing her what? Once a year or something?" Alex sighed, "long distance relationships don't work." They both laughed.

"So I'm guessing you're no longer angry at the fact we're tied up in a room in a foreign country, in the grasp of a drug dealer?" Hex asked and Alex shrugged.

"I've had worse days." They smiled and looked around as they heard the door open.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Hey, sorry for the wait- also, a warning, rating has gone up; there's bad language in this chapter and…other stuff. You'll see- it's nothing too bad!

* * *

The man walked silently up to Alex and Hex, who eyed him with equal distaste. Even though both boys were at the mercy of this man they could not help the lightened mood they had recently acquired.

"So what's going on outside?" Hex asked the man, knowing he only spoke Spanish. The stranger looked Hex up and down before picking up their rucksacks and swinging them close to Hex's head, the man intended to scare Hex but scowled when he realised the boy had not even flinched. The man walked over to Alex and his hand moved to the pack around Alex's waist.

"Whoa whoa!" Alex said as the man's hands went to remove it. "Watch where your hands are going."

"What's he doing?" Hex asked and Alex recoiled slightly.

"I don't think you wanna know mate." Alex replied but the tiredness that influenced the boys happy state was going from Alex now as he became more alert, as the man removed Alex's pack. But Alex knew he couldn't make a big deal out of it; that way the man would know it was important. "Damnit." Alex said once the man had left.

"What?" Hex asked.

"He took my pack." But Alex refused to lose his cool again; he felt ashamed of letting it happen once in front of his friend. He knew Hex wasn't the most confident of people; it was up to Alex to remain calm in this situation; not to let Hex worry.

"Oh no-"

"Don't worry." Alex said quickly, "I'll get it back." There was a moment of silence.

"If they took your pack do you think they'll take Amber's…?" Both boys turned in concern to each other before beginning to shout for the man to come back.

* * *

"I'm bored." Amber said in a quiet voice. "I wish I knew what was going on." She looked towards the door and sighed.

"I wonder what happened to the boys." Li replied. Both girls sat in a room similar to Alex and Hex's, tied up back-to-back. There was little light in this room and the low hung naked light bulb swayed back and forth, making the shadows on the walls grow and shrink. Li blinked slowly as she watched them. Finding the fatigue of her day was finally catching up with her.

"I think they were thrown into separate rooms." Li jumped as Amber spoke suddenly; evidently Amber had not become tired yet. "There's a window up there," Amber looked to the door and there was a small window set in the door. "Let's get up and see what's going on-"

"We know what's out there!" Li said impatiently, "there's a corridor, a few doors and a bit more corridor- everything is blocked out by concrete wall!"

"Alright, alright." Amber sighed in defeat. "Just an idea…" she muttered. Amber felt Li lean against her back and she realised Li was falling asleep. "This isn't the best of times to take a nap Li!" Amber shouted but found after a few moments of the following silence that she too was finding it difficult to keep her eyes opening. "Don't…sleep…beavers…" She muttered incoherently before falling into a peaceful slumber, being propped up by Li.

The door creaked open, a man with a forgettable face walked in. the reason his face, or even he himself, was so forgettable was the fact that in this building there were so many like him. Silent and seemingly unmoving, just watching, waiting on the edge of chaos was the way with these men. In their black and white suits, dark sunglasses to shield their eyes from anyone getting too close and guns held close to their shirts. His eyes swept the scene from behind the darkened glass; he walked over to the girls and picked up their rucksacks from the wall. He stood and was about to walk to the door when he saw, wrapped around the waist of the dark skinned girl was a belt bag. He eyed it suspiciously before walking over to the girl and removing it. He left.

* * *

Lily knelt at the door that led down into the basement of the museum; silently seething at the thought that anyone had the audacity to create a drugs factory beneath it. She could see, below her, her father stood in the middle of the room. The Texan man, who her father had greeted as Milo Seacress, was looking at the bags Hector had laid out.

"This is good…good." He muttered as he looked at the bags. He knelt down and lily had to lean further in to get a good look at him taking out a knife from his boot. He held up a bag against his knife and looked at Lily's father.

"Please, go ahead." Her father said and Seacress slashed the bag with the knife, its fine white powder spilling out onto the table. He picked some up and rubbed it between his fingers.

"I should congratulate you." Seacress looked up, "this is some of the best stuff I've seen." He raised a finger to his nose and inhaled deeply, Lily felt some feeling of hatred for the man as he did so. "Good." He said finally. "I'll take it all." Hector nodded and smiled, the two men shook hands and embraced. Lily was so infuriated by her fathers actions that she was about to step forwards when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"You're not escaping that easily." She turned to the person next to her. Pedro's hazel eyes appraised her deep pools of brown. She was so shocked by his sudden appearance that her defence faltered for a moment and he raised the back of his hand and hit her face. She made no noise but the sound of contact echoed through the room. "That's for escaping last time."

"Pedro?!" They heard from below, evidently Lily's father and people below heard the commotion. Pedro turned Lily around and twisted both her arms painfully around her back. He forced her down the stairs, as they descended her eyes never left her father's. Pedro took her to the bottom and threw her to the floor in front of her father. She hit the floor with such force that she barely had time to regain balance when her father pulled her hair so she stood and they were face to face.

"How dare you defy me?" Her father whispered manically and his face was so contorted with rage that for a moment Lily felt like giving up; like this situation was too scary, to adult, for her to deal with. She found her breath was caught in her throat and she couldn't talk, she just stared with frightened eyes into her father's. She was so terrified that it took a while for her to notice the pain he was causing as he tugged roughly at her hair.

"Fuck off." She gasped, suddenly finding her voice. Her father's grip loosened, as though he had finally realised what he'd done to her. Lily's father had been a man of many manners and salutations; one of them he upheld with his child was the way in which she talked to her parents, or any person older than her.

"I am your father. And yet you _swear _at me-?"

"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER." Lily screamed, hoping to block out his voice, to reassure herself that he meant nothing to her. Her eyes streamed from the pain and her watered eyes caught a glimpse of Hector's face; shocked and old from stress. He let go of her hair and she fell to the floor.

"You are no daughter of mine." He said in return, he looked at her one last time before turning away. "I'm so sorry you had to witness that-"

"No matter, no matter." Seacress said and waved a beefy hand. "Your daughter…" He eyed her up and down, Lily avoided his glare. "Could be useful…" he seemed to be formulating a plan. "She goes to school in England right?" Hector nodded, "well then I think I may have solved some transportation problems-"

"I'll never help you." She stood up.

"Do these mean anything to you?" Her father had walked away to a man who was next to the door; he held up rucksacks for Lily to see. She could have denied knowing that they belonged to her friends but missed the opportunity as the natural reaction of recognition crossed her face. "I thought so." Her father walked back to her, "you will do as I say or you friends will die." Seacress' booming laugh echoed in the room. "Now leave with Pedro until I call you again." Pedro went to take her arm but she took a step away from them all.

"I suppose it's not worth anything to tell you that I hate you?" She asked and her father sighed in boredom.

"Not much, no." She nodded and allowed Pedro to drag her from the room.

* * *

The door opened to his cell and Paulo looked up, he was shocked to see Lily being led in by an unknown boy, but he could hazard a guess at who this boy was.

"Lily," Paulo said reassuringly to her and was concerned as she walked as though in a daze, she didn't acknowledge his greeting and only looked at him when her foot hit his.

"Paulo!" She exclaimed and knelt next to him, she embraced him and he, as best as anyone whose arms were tied behind their back could, hugged her back. "I'm sorry about…everything." She whispered and moved away from him. He shrugged.

"Nothing's your fault here Lily." He said but was silenced as Pedro's hand hit the back of her head. She stood defiantly.

"Piss off." She said and now Paulo didn't know what shocked him the most anymore; her being hit or her using bad language.

"Watch you mouth." Pedro raised his arm again.

"Don't raise your hand to a woman." Paulo shouted, outraged, both Lily and Pedro looked down to him. Pedro shrugged as though Paulo's remark meant nothing.

"Remove your bag." Pedro said and Lily obliged. He took it from her and was about to move off when he realised she could be hiding things elsewhere. She seemed to know what he was thinking and took a step back. He smirked at her action but walked up to her nonetheless. Pedro walked with such animal like distinction of a predator after prey that she walked away from him fast and her back hit the wall. Paulo had no idea what was going on between the two and just looked over at them in confusion. Lily knew if Pedro did a body search he would find the gun fastened to her leg. Pedro put his hands to her neck and she knew that stopping him would make him more determined. His hands travelled down her body, feeling what was underneath the black cotton of her dress. She stared at a spot on the wall behind him, not wanting to show him the power he had over making her feel intimidated.

Paulo watched in disgust, his voice was gone for a few moments as he realised that when Amber had told of Lily's betrayal to Alex, Lily _had _regretted it a moment after. It could be seen on her face, the way her eyes stared ahead blankly. Pedro's hands moved to Lily's thighs and she tensed thinking he may feel the outline of her weapon. Lily's dress had many layers on the bottom half to make it poof out slightly, as was the style she favoured for dresses. Luckily this meant that the shape of the gun was hidden from his hands underneath all the material. She relaxed as she saw there was no change in his facial expression; if he'd found the gun his smile would've widened. But she gasped as his hands moved to the inside of her dress and travelled slowly up her leg. She suddenly felt sick, violated and weak as she realised his fingers were inches away from the red ribbon tied to her thigh.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER." Paulo shouted, Pedro turned to him and his hands left Lily's body. She stood, still staring at the opposite wall, her breathing was too fast. Pedro walked over to Paulo and stared at him as though trying to understand what this boy thought was wrong with his actions. "You disgust me." Paulo said "come mierda…conchetumare." _(A/N: you really don't wanna know what that means). _Pedro punched Paulo in the stomach before walking to the door, picking up their bags and walking off. Paulo doubled over when he left, coughing, gasping, trying to regain the breath that was knocked out of him. He looked over to Lily who slid down the wall, Paulo's hands were bound and tied to a table that was nailed to the floor, but he crawled over to Lily. "You OK?" He asked and her eyes flicked to him.

"What's happening?" She whispered to him. "What the heck happened in these few short hours to make this happen?" He had no answer to give the distraught girl. She smoothed hair from her face and pulled her dress as far down as it would go.

"Lily," Paulo whispered but she stood up suddenly.

"I've got to get you guys out of here." She said and walked to the door. "You're not meant to be here. Five friends on holiday shouldn't be involved in uncovering a foreign criminal…" her voice trailed away as she tried the door, unsurprisingly it was locked. She looked back to Paulo, "If we could just…what?" She asked and Paulo realised that he'd be smiling slightly at what she'd said about Alpha Force and made his face straight.

"Lily, take a minute too-"

"No!" She said and took a pin from her hair and turned back to the door.

"You're going to pick the lock?" Paulo said in admiration.

"Oh right, sorry." She came over to him and began to untie his hands. She worked in silence for a while and Paulo could tell that there was still nervousness about her that she developed from what Pedro had done. Paulo had no idea what to do about it though; it was a situation that he felt way out of his depth, he had no idea what to say to her. "There." She said and he brought his hands back and rubbed his wrists.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed and walked around to get his legs back to normal; he came over to the door eventually and heard the lock click. Lily smiled in relief and opened the door slightly; there was no window in this door to see outside.

"It's clear." She whispered.

"Did you see where they took the others?" Paulo asked and Lily shook her head.

"They're probably in another side room. C'mon, we'll get them out." Paulo followed her out and they took looks around, ensuring no one was there. They moved to the middle of the corridor and were about to run to the next room when a door behind them opened. They turned to the sound of shouts and muttered swear words.

"GET OFF." They heard Hex shout and looked to see Hex and Alex, their hands still bound, being dragged from their room by two suited men. The shouting subsided as both groups stared at each other from across the hallway in surprise. Before either group had time to react the lights above them flickered, they looked up to see the low lamps that hung from the ceiling flickering light into the corridor. They looked back to each other once more, before they were plunged into total darkness.

* * *

Yeah, so now you get why the rating went up! I just wanted to ensure that Pedro was completely out of the picture for Lily because, knowing me, I'd bring him back to mess something or the other up.

Yeah so. That's the end of this chapter! Again, apologies for the wait.


	10. Chapter 10

There was a moment in the darkness when everyone held their breath. Alex recovered from surprise first and elbowed his captor in the ribs, everyone heard the man shout out from the pain. His grip slackened from Alex's arms and the blonde haired boy wriggled free. A shout issued from beside Alex and it was not Hex's voice so he figured Hex had the same idea. The boys both considered running but the darkness was so obsolete they realised their predators would track them with the sounds they made. Alex and Hex tiptoed away quietly, the men, in a fit of anger from losing the boys, shouted out and ran forwards. Alex flattened himself against the wall and he felt a man run past him. The men's shouts could be heard getting quieter as they ran down the corridor; not paying the slightest amount of attention to finding their prisoners. Alex thought he could breathe normally, he recollected his thoughts before the blackout; he could've sworn he saw Paulo stood next to-

"Lily!" Hex whispered loudly as the lights flickered back on. Alex looked down the hallway to see Paulo was indeed stood next to the dark skinned girl. She appraised him in turn.

"Hey guys," her eyes never left Alex's until Hex coughed pointedly, she jumped and looked to him. "Oh sorry Hex! Thank you so much." She ran to him and hugged him tightly.

"That's alright." He muttered rather sheepishly.

"What're you talking about?" Paulo asked and Lily let go of Hex.

"Hex gave me a…err-" she said and began to undo the rope binding his hands. Paulo walked over to Alex and did the same.

"It was just a device that showed her where we were. Using the same tracker system I hooked us all up with." He smiled triumphantly and Paulo laughed.

"This isn't the time." Alex took a step from the wall and everyone turned to him. "They're gonna come back any-" He was cut off as they heard the doors open and they looked around; the men were stood, staring at them in confusion. They started forwards to capture the teenagers but everyone was again surprised as the lights went out. "What's with the lights?" Alex whispered.

"This place always has power cuts." Lily answered, "Welcome to Peru, Alex." She whispered scathingly; Alex should be used to the power cuts by now. Everyone stood still, trying to listen for the men's footsteps; they walked clumsily down the darkness and that meant they could be heard. Lily was about to step forwards when someone grabbed her arm, she almost called out but stopped herself.

"Wait a second," Alex turned Lily to face him even though they couldn't see each other. "_You _are angry at _me?" _He whispered, thinking of the sarcastic tone she'd used with him. The lights turned back on and Alex pushed Lily away while jumping back, out of reach from a man that had appeared behind Lily. The man shouted again in frustration and they were plunged into darkness once more. Alex was turned around by force and shouted but a hand came to his mouth to stop him.

"Well you weren't exactly understanding…" Lily whispered and Alex pulled her hand away from his mouth.

"Understanding?!" Alex shouted. The lights came on again, Lily and Alex saw Paulo jump out of the grip of a man and into another room, the man followed. Hex was being hounded by the only other man hunting them, Hex ran down the corridor and the man perused, leaving Alex and Lily alone in the corridor. She turned away from him in frustration. "It wasn't to difficult to understand." He muttered as they both thought of what to do next, Lily sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Will you shut up and let me think?" She snapped, the lights turned off again, they both groaned in annoyance. "Perhaps we should look for Li and Amber; get them out and meet up with the others." Lily suggested and Alex nodded.

"Paulo and Hex'll be OK; it's just a game of hide and seek."

"Hide and seek; you were rubbish at that game Lily." A voice said behind the pair. They both turned to Pedro who stood at the end of the corridor. Pedro looked over at them, smirking at the fact that the two people in front of him looked completely different. The girl, dark in all her appearance; a black dress on her tanned skin, her long, dark hair no longer perfect and her eyes held some essence of deepness. Where as the boy was fair in every way, although his skin had tanned slightly in the Peruvian sun and his eyes were a glassy grey, as though he could read every part of you but only let you touch the surface of himself. The lights blacked out again before giving light once more. It was like something out of a horror film, Alex and Lily could've sworn that as the lights flicked on and off Pedro was coming closer. Lily trembled as she realised what she should do, she really didn't want to show that side of herself to Alex but she had no choice. As the lights stayed on Alex glanced over to Lily and saw her shaking hand pull her dress up to reveal her thigh, he cocked an eyebrow and was shocked to see a red ribbon holding a gun to her leg.

"Lily…?" He looked at her questioningly but realised that Pedro thought Lily had lost her nerve and so did not retrieve his own weapon, indeed her hand had stopped going for the gun. The lights went off once more and Alex took the opportunity and pulled the ribbon from her leg, grabbing the gun for himself he pointed it at Pedro. The lights turned back on and he saw the shock on Pedro's face and the boy did not even have time to reach for his own gun. Alex jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. Alex had indeed held guns before and shot but he had never done so to hurt anyone, his hand shook and he stared at the boy determinedly. Lily put her lips to his ear and her hand moved from his shoulder down to the gun.

"Hold in steady, he'll know you're nervous otherwise-"

"I'm not." Alex whispered back and Lily smirked.

"Your hands say otherwise." She held his hand with the gun to steady it and Alex could feel himself blushing as she did so. "Concentrate and look straight down the site." He nodded; he knew all of this but his body wasn't responding to his mind.

"As sweet as this is." Pedro said, "either take the shot or let me kill you." He stood, waiting for Alex to move.

"If you don't want to do it Alex, I will." Lily whispered, Alex didn't look at her but he could hear the determination in her voice. After a few painful moments Pedro sighed and went to take out a gun from it's holder beneath his jacket. At that moment the lights lost power again, Pedro ducked in case the British kid took a shot, nothing happened; Pedro removed his gun and stood. The lights came on once more, but Lily and Alex where nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Li woke with a start, she thought she heard a bang from outside their room and looked around, she was so tired it took her a moment to realise that the light in their room was off.

"Amber, did you turn the light out?" She said with a laugh, knowing her friend was just as incapable of movement has she was. "Yo, Amber? Wake up now!" She shouted and yawned. She shut her eyes as the lights turned back on; the light was blinding. She turned to the door as she heard it open. "Food?" She said sleepily; realising now how hungry she was. But no one came through the door; she stared out into the empty corridor in confusion. Hex ran past their door, stopped and doubled back, he pointed and stared at them with his mouth open before running off again, Li screwed up her face in confusion and nodded as a man ran after Hex. "Everyone's got something to do but us; well I'm fed up of waiting!" She looked around the room and noticed a pile of Alpha force's bags that were within leg's reach. Li's malleable body meant it was easy for her to reach the bag with her unbound legs, she dragged it towards her and opened the zip with her teeth. "Aha!" She shouted in triumph, "Amber don't move ok? You might get cut…" she added and proceeded to remove a knife from the bag, holding on to the blade's handle with her teeth. She turned her face and dropped the blade behind her. She groped around for it and when she found it began to cut at the rope that bound her hands until they were free, she whooped triumphantly and turned to do the same for Amber. The lights went out again.

* * *

Paulo backed out of the room and into the darkness of another; he had no idea where he was going, he couldn't see a thing, but at least that meant his pursuer couldn't see anything as well. His back hit another person and yelped.

"Paulo?" The person whispered and he was relieved to hear Hex's voice.

"Hex? Where the heck is everyone?"

"I don't know," the lights turned on and the boys glanced around quickly; making sure they were alone. "I think we should gather everyone, get our bags and just get the hell out of here." He said quickly and Palo nodded but then groaned.

"We have no idea where they took our bags!" He cursed softly, "let's just find the others." Hex nodded and they set off together, they had not moved far when they heard a squeal and turned around.

"Paulo! Hex!"

"Li, be quiet!" Paulo whispered, "they'll hear you and come running." But the smile he had was wiped off his face as he saw the worry etched on Li's face, she ran up to them and grabbed their wrists. "Li? What is it?" He asked.

"It's Amber," Li panted, evidently she had been running around to find them. "She's not waking up."


	11. Chapter 11

All Alex could hear was Lily's breathing and his own, the darkness that surrounded them seemed to suck any other noise away from them. He gripped onto Lily tight, unsure even if it was the best thing to do, but he didn't want to be separated from her; it'd be too difficult to find everyone again. She was shaking he noticed, but then he was shaking too; he'd never come so close to shooting someone before. Would he have done it? _Could _he have done it? And why did Lily want it to be done anyway? He was glad the power cut happened when it did; he had time to grab Lily and throw themselves into a side room. It was the nearest door to them but that meant Pedro would check here first, but at least 3 minutes had passed and the boy had not come looking. Perhaps he'd got new orders? Alex's head hurt but then he had to think straight; they had to find everyone, the bags and then get out. It was such a simple plan but it was taking so long. Which way would he go to find them; maybe Lily knew her way around-

"Alex?" She whispered and Alex looked down to where he thought her face might be.

"What?" He whispered back.

"Sorry," she took a deep breath, "for pretty much everything." Alex felt fairly ashamed when she said this; Alpha Force had come into her life and taken down all the illusions her father had placed around Lily. Alpha force was the reason she was messed up in all this, the reason her life was falling apart. But Alex didn't know how to articulate any of what he was feeling to her; it was too complicated to put into words. But then he wondered what would happen to her; her father would go to prison and her mother was in Europe, would she continue going to her school in London? The unnerving and horrible feeling or guilt rose up inside of him; she had no idea what was happening in her life and yet he'd been angry with her for something so trivial.

"No, Lily." He whispered defiantly, "I'm sorry." The lights came back on and he saw her looking confusedly at him. He finally built up the courage to look at her in return; he brushed a strand of hair away that had fallen in front of her lips. He took a deep breath and leant in-

"Guys!" Li shouted and Alex and Lily turned around to her. "Oh, sorry." She said, realising she'd ruined the moment.

"Oh good." Lily stood up and Alex did too, "we're all here, so let's find your bags-"

"Not all of us are here!" Hex sounded offended and Lily looked around the room.

"Amber?" Alex asked them all.

"I had to leave her!" Li said desperately and Paulo put a hand on her shoulder, "I had to get help!"

"We know Li," Paulo said.

"Help?" Alex asked, "what for?"

"Come on!" Li shouted before Alex had even finished his question.

* * *

The girl showed them the way back to the room she had left Amber in. They moved stealthily through the building but were surprised to find no men pursued them here. They reached the room and Li pushed the door open before taking a step back.

"What is it?" Hex asked apprehensively in response to Li's face, she shook her head.

"This is the room…she's not here!" Li wailed and looked at the group, "I'm sorry!" Paulo wrapped an arm around her although he did not look entirely reassured.

"We've got to find her." Hex said and was about to walk away when doors at the end of the corridor opened and they all turned to face him.

"I'm getting rather tired of this game of cat and mouse." Lily's father said with quiet anger. Alex put his hand behind his back; hiding the gun, Lily took a step forwards.

"Where's Amber?" She asked and her father gestured behind him. Amber was sat in a chair behind him, her hands and legs bound to it, her head was lolling to one side, her eyes were closed. Hex took a step forwards but Lily held an arm out to stop him.

"This isn't a game anymore papa," everyone was surprised to hear her call him that but she had merely said it out of habit. "She's a diabetic." Lily said, her father knew what this meant, she could see his eyes working it out.

"And?" Her father replied, "you think that'll stop me from getting what I want."

"Her life's in danger; you leave her like that…it's murder-"

"Murder?" Li whispered.

"She's in a diabetic coma most likely," Paulo talked loud enough for Lily's father to hear. "It happens when there's a combination of high blood sugar, dehydration, shock and exhaustion." Paulo took a breath, "she's got all of those symptoms tonight."

"And it can result in…?" Hex asked and Lily picked up the story, but she kept her eyes on the figures in front of her.

"Death." She said simply, "the longer she stays in that state, the more damage it'll do to her body. It'll damage her kidneys, her retinas, her main brain arteries, her coronary arteries-"

"That's enough!" Everyone shouted at lily, Alpha force and her father. She hadn't intended to upset Alpha force but she wanted her father to change his mind, it seemed to be working. She could see him weighing up the options, was he ruthless enough to let a teenage girl die?

"Let her go!" Alex said and this time, with more confidence, held up the gun at Lily's father. He cocked the gun and hoped Lily wouldn't think bad of him. "Let her go." He said again and took a step forwards. Her father looked the British boy up and down, wondering if he really would shoot. Many men came out of rooms, at least twelve men, all with guns pointing to Alpha force.

"Alright!" Hector shouted to the group, "you," he pointed to Paulo. "Take the girl upstairs, leave everything else, and call for an ambulance." No one was more shocked than Lily to hear her father say this. Alex began to lower his gun; knowing resistance was pointless. Paulo did not hesitate to move, he knew the seriousness of Amber's situation, he'd read about it. He let go of Li and ran down the corridor to Amber. "Once you get up there," Lily's dad said, "if you even think about calling the police I'll kill all your friends before you get the chance." Paulo nodded, some men undid the binds on Amber and one man helped Paulo carry her. "Here," Lily's father handed Paulo a phone. "One of my men will keep an eye on you." He and the other man carried Amber up the stairs and away from sight. Hector seemed to immediately regret his decision, he swore quietly in Spanish. "The rest of you!" He shouted at the kids, "get here." He pointed to a place near him and the group moved slowly towards him. "I need to leave." He said nonchalantly as they reached him.

"Sir?" Pedro stepped out of the shadows, "I could watch them here if you like." Hector seemed to contemplate this, "you can go back to the house for your meeting, take your guards," Pedro nodded towards the armed men.

"Are you sure?" Hector asked nervously.

"Of course." Pedro said, snatching his gun back from Alex.

"Last time I left you alone with one of them and she managed to break your phone, bruise your stomach and steal your gun." Lily grinned triumphantly, much to the fascination of the rest of Alpha force.

"I'll be fine. I underestimated…" His voice trailed away as Lily's father had already begun to leave. Men bound alpha force's and Lily's hands, sat them all on the floor against a wall and left. Lily's father took one last glance at her before shaking his head and walking out of the basement. There was silence for about six minutes, Pedro stared at each of the teenagers in front of him; not knowing what to make of these tourists. He stood up and walked to Lily, she suddenly began to shuffle back against the wall, writhing to get away from him.

"You've already searched me." She said, the tone of desperation did not go unnoticed by the other three around her. Pedro stopped in front of her; he could see the fear mounting in her eyes as he reached out a hand to her face.

"How did you get that Lily?" He whispered and wiped her cheek. When he withdrew his hand she saw blood there. She had no idea when she had been cut; she couldn't even feel the pain. He stretched out a hand again and Lily closed her eyes, fearful of what he might do.

"Don't touch her." Alex said and Pedro looked to him. Alex had no idea why Lily was so scared, she seemed fine before but whenever Pedro got to close Alex could feel her begin to shake against him. Pedro turned to him, his hazel eyes looked deep into grey ones before sighing in a bored manner and turning away. Lily hung her head, relieved nothing had happened.

"You know you guys really should learn," Pedro took his gun from a workbench nearby and pointed it at Alex, "that when someone has power over your life you shouldn't tell them what to do." But Pedro was distracted by something, he looked over to Li, for once he looked concerned. "What is it?" He asked her and everyone turned to her. Li had silent tears rolling down her face.

"Is she gonna be ok?" Li whispered, more to herself than anyone else. No one needed to question who she was talking about. Lily, who was sat in between Hex and Alex, looked past Hex to glance at Li. "Lily!" Li said as if she had found some sort of comfort. "Is she going to be ok?" Li said with more conviction. Lily honestly had no idea; she had no clue how severe anything would be on Amber.

"I'm sorry Li, I don't know." Lily said quietly, Hex swore softly. Li tried hard not to break down, she kept her sobs caught in the back of her throat. "I have to go to the bathroom." Lily said suddenly and looked to Pedro. Everyone saw he was angry with himself when she said this; everyone had completely overlooked the idea that the group could split up. He contemplated this.

"Alright, I'll take you." He said finally, deciding there was no where for the others to go. He help Lily stand and walked behind her as she passed Hex and Li. She glanced back and as she did her foot caught the strap of one of Alpha's bags that had been placed there, she fell to her knees. As Pedro helped her up she kicked the bag away from her in an annoyed way, she was glad when Pedro kicked it out of his way too. They left the room.

"She fell over on purpose!" Hex exclaimed as quietly as you could exclaim something.

"Why?" Alex said, he was nervous about leaving Lily alone with that guy, but his question was answered by Li. When Pedro had kicked the bag he had kicked it towards Li, she hooked her foot around the strap and brought it closer to her.

"Don't worry guys; I'm an expert with this now." She smiled at them.

* * *

Lily and Pedro walked in silence down the corridor, neither had anything to say to the other. Lily still felt uncomfortable being alone in his presence, nevertheless it had to be done. Although she could sense his eyes on her at all times; it was unnerving.

"I take it you know where we're going?" Pedro asked. Lily's heart leapt; Pedro didn't know his way around the museum and she did, she'd been in here often enough. She just had to buy the others that were tied up more time.

"Of course," she whispered. She had no idea. She'd never been in the basement before; it was not used by the museum because they were told activity in the basement would destabilize the foundations of the building. She led Pedro through the entire basement's lay out, he merely followed and she could tell he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention. It had been about ten minutes before Pedro got angry, he turned her around and shook her.

"You have no idea where we're going!" He shouted and she smiled, "why would you…?" He thought for a moment before whacking the side of her face with the back of his hand. "You bitch." He said before running off in the direction of the others.

* * *

Upon entering the room he shouted in frustration; the other three where not there. They had left behind cuttings of the rope that had bound their hands. He swore loudly. Something collided with the back of his head so hard small squares of white light obscured his vision. Before he knew it he was pinned to the floor. His arms twisted back painfully, someone removed the gun from his hands.

"How on Earth did you get your job?" Li said as she sat on his arms. "You're rubbish at it."


	12. Chapter 12

Hey everybody! Nice weekend? I don't remember mine so don't ask. Is it still the weekend? I'm so confused after exams…and will someone please tell me what the heck everyone's surname is in alpha force…maybe not everyone- I've completely forgotten! Alex is Craig right? Amber Middleton obviously…but then, the others?! I needed Paulo's surname and was like- what the heck is it?! Anyways, the fic, which is near an end!

* * *

Paulo sat in the ambulance next to the stretcher where Amber lay, her limp frame had been strapped to it and hooked up to God knows what. He knew, of course Paulo knew, he'd read about it, perhaps he'd even seen it. He couldn't think straight, his eyes were tired with the strain of not breaking down; Lily was right, the longer Amber was like this, the worse it would be. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and took a deep breath; he couldn't lose himself now.

There was another man in the ambulance, taking blood from Amber, he paid no attention to Paulo and Paulo paid no attention to him. They were stuck in two different worlds, one trying to being another patient back, the other trying not to think of the patient as one of his best friends. The man was in green overalls, taking a quick blood sample from Amber. This had to be done to determine whether her blood sugar was high or low, that would show them what treatment was needed. Paulo coughed, fatigue overwhelming him, but he kept his eyes wide open. The man muttered something in Spanish, Paulo heard it; Amber's blood sugar levels were too high. The van stopped abruptly and Paulo held onto a rail in the ambulance to steady himself.

He followed her stretcher as Amber was taken into the hospital; he never left her side, silently praying nothing had happened too late. He was thinking a little clearer now; if her levels were too high then she would be given intravenous fluids to restore water to her tissues. The information was coming back to him, it was all he could think of, perhaps it was just to block out what was happening. A nurse grabbed his arm and stopped him from following Amber as another doctor came to look at her, talking hurriedly and nodding to the paramedic. Paulo stared speechlessly after her and then wiped his eyes with his sleeve. His phone rang; he looked down in confusion and answered the call.

"Hello?"

* * *

"Paulo, where are you?" Hex asked anxiously, "are you OK? Is…is Amber OK?" Hex heard Paulo let out a shuddering sigh.

"I'm in the hospital, Amber's been taken away-"

"Where too?" Hex asked.

"I…what…I'm not sure." He said uncertainly, that was bad; Paulo unsure could only mean one thing.

"How is she?" Hex asked in a quieter voice.

"Her blood sugar levels are high, they'll put her on a drip, give her potassium, sodium or chlorine supplements-"

"Paulo!" Hex said despairingly, "_how is she?" _

"I don't know." Came the bleak, unwelcomed answer, "it depends on how fast she heals; that differs for everyone." Paulo paused, "how are you guys?" He asked, suddenly remembering the situation he left them in.

"We're all fine-"

"How-"

"We'll explain when we get to the hospital." Hex said, "see you in a little while."

"Bye." Hex turned back around to his friends.

"Well?" Li said anxiously, Hex shrugged and the girl looked like she'd dissolve into tears at any moment. They were stood in the room of the basement they first come too; they had removed all weapons from Pedro and Lily and Alex securely tied him to a table. He was muttering at them in Spanish.

"Yeah well next time don't underestimate your enemy." Lily said savagely, yanking at the rope she had tied around his hands. He spat at her.

"Hey!" Alex shouted and lashed out at the boy, the gun Alex was holding hit the side of Pedro's head. As his head moved back it slammed into a table leg and all was still. Pedro was unconscious, blood oozed from the back of his head; Lily looked at Alex in surprise. The blonde haired boy shrugged, "he deserved it." She nodded in agreement. "Got the evidence?" Alex asked Li and the girl nodded, handing out their rucksacks.

"Evidence?" Lily asked.

"To show the police." Li answered.

"You think they'll listen?" Suddenly there was an anger in Lily none of them had seen before, "you think they actually give a damn?" She laughed at their naivety. "The police were probably helping this trade." She said to the disbelieving trio.

"Lily, that can't be-"

"It is!" She cut across Hex. "You go to the police…they'll kill you for knowing about it." She shook her head. "So unless you guys have someone else you can complain to, there's nothing we can do."

"Someone else?" Li blinked at Lily and then looked around at Hex and Alex. "Yeah…we have some contacts." Lily stared at her blankly for a few moments before raising an eyebrow.

"Earlier…yesterday…maybe it was two days ago," Alex wondered out loud, "anyway, _at some point _in this town I heard a radio broadcast about the drugs trade here. It was in English; I dunno how but they were listening to an American news broadcast; explaining how the drug trade was escalating there too and how it was thought to be funded from a South American country." He paused; no one followed his train of thought. "We can contact American authorities-"

"Alex!" Lily said, clearly she was now weary of this, "will you guys listen!?" She shouted, "we are a group of six teenagers, in the middle of Peru, who have stumbled across a drugs factory and you guys want to call up _American authorities?! _Unless you guys are used to saving the world, unless you've done this before. Unless you've…I dunno, prevented human rights abuse in the middle of India or something. THEN THIS IS NOT EXACTLY GOING TO BE…what?" She asked, suddenly stumped, for the other three found it difficult to conceal smirks.

"Lily," Alex said and she turned back to him, "there's something I've…_we've,_ been meaning to tell you." He put a hand on her shoulder, still finding it difficult not to laugh.

"Brace yourself," Hex warned the girl.

"Yeah…You might want to sit down," Li suggested.

* * *

"Paulo?" The boy opened his eyes; he'd almost been drifting off but jerked awake as he thought a doctor may have news of Amber's condition. He looked up and came face to face with a pale skinned American man, he was those types of people you know just sit in an office all day and really were not up to working in the field; he was sweating a lot in the Peruvian heat.

"Yes," Paulo answered as the man had not said anything yet.

"Your friends, Alex, Li, Lily and…Hex," he said, making sure he'd said the name right by glancing at a paper in his hands. "Have been taken to temporary DEA Headquarters set up in a secure region of the city-"

"DEA?" Paulo repeated and the man nodded quickly, evidently he wanted to be back in some air conditioned place.

"Drug Enforcement Administration is a United Sates Department of Justice law enforcement agency," he spoke as though reading out of a leaflet. "We deal with drug smuggling and the use of drugs. For a while we've suspected these areas of Peru to be the origin of the drug trade so we've had teams sent out around the country. Your friends contacted us around two hours ago."

"They did?" Paulo asked, suddenly finding it very difficult to keep his eyes open.

"Yes, we were nearby…everything happened fairly quickly. You kids did a good job." He smiled at Paulo although the boy felt the man was being a little too kind, or perhaps he was just annoyed he'd called them "kids." Paulo nodded slowly, trying to get the fatigue to go away. "You're needed for questioning now-"

"I can't leave Amber!" He suddenly shouted.

"Yes," the man glanced towards the door they had taken Amber through, "you're friends are being released now, although they'll come hear and all be guarded. You can come back and wait with them for…Amber." Again he checked his list. "So, we're just going to have to wait-"

"Paulo!" They heard a shriek and Paulo stood up before almost being knocked off his feet as Li threw her arms around him.

"Hey," he said, slightly breathlessly, he nodded to Lily, Alex and Hex who walked on after him. Everyone greeted each other with the same melancholy tones, glancing every now and then to the double doors across the hall.

"Any news?" Alex said as they all sat down. In answer to his question a doctor came out of the doors and walked up to them.

"How's Amber?" Paulo asked suddenly; recognising the doctor. The doctor was young but his face looked aged from the stress of the job. Everyone jumped up to hear what the man had to say.

"Her condition's stabilised; she's being given intravenous fluids and ion supplements." That's all he could say, it was difficult to tell a group of teenagers that their friend was in such a serious condition.

"How will she be once she's woken up?" Lily asked what everyone was thinking, although Hex found he didn't want to hear it, he sat down and stared at the floor, Li sat too and put an arm around him.

"You got her here pretty soon, so the chances are she won't be too bad. But that's only because we're keeping everything in her body regulated; even though we're helping, there are things damaging her body at a slower rate. It all depends on when she wakes up." He said quietly while glancing at Hex.

"When will she wake up?" Li asked even though they all knew the answer.

"I'm afraid we don't know." And so the doctor gave his apologies and goodbyes and left them. They all stood and sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating the devastation that could occur from this.

"Paulo," the American man shifted uncomfortably, "I'm sorry but we have to go…" Paulo nodded, they muttered goodbyes and he left. Lily and Alex sat down.

"She _never _forgets!" Hex suddenly shouted and stood up angrily. "How could she…why didn't she…she's such an idiot." He finished feebly before sitting back down and putting his head in his hands.

"Can't we do something?" Li said, although they knew it was useless; the information Lily had given them about Amber's condition was replaying in everyone's mind.

* * *

The first thing she could feel again was the heat, and then came the overpowering smell of disinfectant. It was such a familiar smell, one she knew was only smelt in…what was that word? A sanctuary for sick people…a hospital. Her mind stringed the words together but they didn't seem to make any sense. Anyway, if she were in a hospital she would be sick. And she wasn't, was she? Slowly her body became accustomed to the itchy blankets scratching at her skin, the sound of footsteps down a corridor came to her. Ugh, but there was another noise, an unholy noise that she wanted to get rid of it. But it was so familiar, so comforting it belonged to that bloody palmtop of his. Who's?

"Hex." She croaked feebly.

"Amber!" she heard a voice next to her bed break. Hex was glad her eyes weren't open; she wouldn't see him wipe his eyes quickly. "Are you OK? Do you need anything, I'll get a nurse!"

"Just shut that thing up." She muttered, "I'm trying to sleep." She inwardly smiled as she heard Hex's voice, what he was talking about she had no idea, but she didn't really care. He was there; that's all that mattered.

* * *

"So this is what you guys do." Lily said hollowly as Alex handed her a plastic cup of tea.

"Pretty much." He replied. They were sat in the canteen of the hospital; Hex and Li had fallen asleep but sleep was the last thing Lily and Alex felt like doing. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, when you asked-"

"That's alright," she said quietly. "I understand." She took a sip of her tea and looked up at him, she could see from his eyes and behaviour that he wanted to know what she thought of it. "It's just…"

"Crazy?"

"A little." She nodded and they laughed. "But believable," she admitted, "it suits you all." She sighed and rubbed her eyes as Alex ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you OK lily?" He asked, "this has affected you more than anyone else." She shrugged.

"I don't know; my dad was the one who controlled my life. Without him, I have no clue about what will happen to me. Perhaps I'll live with mum somewhere in London." She speculated.

"In London?"

"Yeah, I'll go to school there still and mum works a lot in Europe, maybe she'll get a permanent job there." She smiled and Alex was surprised that this was her reaction to all this, she noticed his eyes widen. "Well I've never really been in control of anything; it just feels like another day." She said and he laughed.

"You're…" he began.

"What?" he shrugged, she lowered her gaze and smiled.

"What the heck," she heard him whisper and as she looked up Alex kissed her.

"This is a hospital!" They heard someone shriek, "we keep things clean." They broke apart and smiled at Li who looked ecstatic. "Awww Alex, I didn't know you had it in you." She ruffled his hair and grimaced. " Oh!" Li said, suddenly remembering, "Amber woke up!"

"Thank God," Lily whispered and put a hand to her mouth.

"Can we see her?" Alex asked but Li shook her head.

"They threw Hex out; they need to do tests or something." Li said happily and looked as if she was going to cry again.

"I can't believe it; she was out for only eight hours," Hex said as he walked up to them happily, Alex stared at him for a moment, noting the redness of Hex's eyes.

"It'll be thanks to all the stuf you guys do; keeping her body fit." Lily said and they all smiled.

"Kids?" It was that American DEA representative, they all turned to him. "We've put Paulo in a hotel, we'll take you there now-"

"But we want to stay with Amber!" Li protested and the man raised an eyebrow.

"From what Paulo says you haven't slept for almost two days," he smiled at them and gestured out of the door, they all hung their heads and followed him out.

* * *

"Miss Middleton you can't get up yet!" A nurse shouted to her as she sat up and removed the covers from her body. But that had taken so much effort and she was so weak that she just fell back onto the pillows again.

"Ugh..." she groaned.

"Here," the nurse came over to her and handed her the control to the TV, Amber shook her head. "Fine." The nurse said, rather annoyed. "That young boy that was in here, hooked this up," she pointed to Hex's video camera on the window sill, "said you might like to watch it to pass the time." Amber nodded, the tape must have their adventures in Peru on there, as well as evidence from the drug factory, perhaps that was on another tape. She put the TV on and pressed play. She laughed as she saw Alex's mud covered face emerge from behind a tree in the rainforest. She saw herself come into view, her ebony coloured skin glistening in the sunlight, she pushed Li who turned around and pushed Paulo, thinking it had been him. A fight quickly ensued. She smiled as she watched herself and her friends in the rainforest; soon this was replaced with images of the town. Then she saw Lily, stood next to Alex late at night in the town, Amber sighed; she'd hoped those two had figured something out, they looked really happy together.

"That's not what I mean mate, I just don't want you to throw it away." Amber jerked awake; she had left the video camera playing and had drifted into sleep. She groped around for the remote.

"You're one to talk; not telling a girl about how you feel-" She recognised Alex's voice and looked at the screen.

"What do you mean by that?" She recognised Hex's voice. On screen was part of the interior of Hex's rucksack and a blank wall.

"It's not exactly a well kept secret hex." Hex must've left the camera on when they had been captured. She found the remote control but did not switch it off. "When exactly is Amber going to find out how you feel?"

* * *

That was long and oh so fluffly, i'm like choking on the stuff! Next chapter's the last. Methinks anyways :D


	13. Chapter 13

Last chapter! :D I have enjoyed writing for Alpha. It's been grand! Oh and thanks for the surnames!

* * *

"awww…" Li said in a small squeal.

"Li turn around and sit down." Hex said to her. She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"You should take notes from Alex, Hex," She said scathingly before turning back around and sitting down. Paulo, who was sitting next to her, glanced back at Hex.

"She's right; the only action you get is with that palmtop." He laughed. Hex grimaced and looked sideways at Alex and Lily, wondering what Li thought was so cute; they were asleep! They were all sat in a seven seater car; one which Paulo had marvelled at on approach but soon found he was too tired to care. Alex, Lily and Hex sat right at the back, Li and Paulo sat in the middle and the unknown driver kept quite during the journey. Hex wondered if Alex would be true to his word; he'd said before that he and Lily were two worlds apart, would he leave her? Somehow Hex doubted it. The car came to a stop suddenly.

"Oi, you two!" Paulo shouted back at them, Alex woke up instantly and they laughed at how flustered he became when he looked down to find Lily.

"Ah…" he gasped, evidently he'd forgotten about her. "Lily," he whispered sleepily, "wake up." She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Where are we?" She leant across Alex to look out of the window.

"Hotel Navas." The young DEA representative, who had eventually introduced himself as Nick, opened the door. Everyone filed out of the car, staring around the empty, darkened street around them. Li shivered, the evening brought a chill with it today, and Paulo put an arm around her. "You'll all have rooms on the third floor; there are six rooms there, one for each of you and then one for me. I'll be taking care of you all for nine days-"

"Nine days?!" They shouted at him.

"I thought you wanted to wait for Amber to get better? She's not flying out in her condition." His comment was met with many shouts and murmurs of approval. "Now let's all go and get some sleep, you can visit the hospital in the morning." They all trooped in to the hotel, they walked straight past the reception desk and up to their rooms; leaving Nick to deal with the startled lady at the desk.

Once everyone had reached the 3rd floor they stood in the corridor, looking blankly at one another; a shared sense of relief went through the group and they eventually smiled at one another.

"Good night guys," Lily said quietly and went to open her door.

"Night." They all said and there was an awkward moment when Lily debated something with a quick glance at Alex. Evidently she changed her mind and opened the door to her room; she glanced back, smiled and went into the room.

"See you in the morning." Alex said quickly to the other three and opened the door after lily and walked in.

"See ya," the other three shouted at him before turning around and opening the doors to their rooms. "Hang on," Paulo said and all of them turned back to the hallway, "did Alex just go into Lily's room?" There was a moment of stunned silence before Paulo let out a low whistle, "who would've though Alex would be the first of us to get-"

"No, no, no!" Li shouted and put her hands to her ears, "I don't want to hear stuff like that!" She said in offence before slamming her bedroom door shut with her foot.

"Everyone was thinking it!" Paulo protested but Hex put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dude, whenever crap like that comes into your head, please, keep it to yourself." Hex patted him on the shoulder before retiring to his own room. Paulo shook his head and walked to Li's room-

"Don't even think about it." He heard her shout before he'd even gone to the door handle. He smiled and went back to his room.

* * *

"Don't change the subject." Amber heard Hex say.

"No, change the subject Alex!" She whispered urgently but sighed as she heard Hex talk again.

"This is about you and Lily. I see Amber loads; you might never see Lily again-"

"Perhaps that's best." Alex said and Hex was shocked. "Lily and I come from completely different worlds. Anyway, how the heck can I be with Lily and hang out with you guys? She doesn't know what we do Hex…she wouldn't want to hang around, waiting for me to get back." Amber shook her head as much as she could; the shock of watching this had, for some unknown reason, tired her.

"Idiot." She whispered; the Lily she knew wouldn't give a damn about waiting. Hex and Alex began to talk about Lily and Amber found her thoughts going back to what Alex had said; _when exactly is Amber going to find out how you feel about her? _How did Hex feel? And why, when she thought about it did the flutterbies _(A/N: valentine's language for "butterflies") _in her stomach squirm?

"At least I have a vaguely credible reason not to say anything to her! You've got no good reason not to tell Amber!" Alex's shout brought Amber back to the conversation. _Tell Amber what? _She thought, even though she knew.

"There are SO many reasons not to tell her Alex," Hex replied. _No there aren't! _She thought and gripped tightly to the remote control in her hands.

"Yeah, reasons as in: _I don't think she'll like me back? _That's ridiculous." Alex said and Amber nodded in agreement.

"It's not!" Hex said, suddenly angry, "there are more reasons!" _name one._ "what if she didn't; then how awkward will our friendship be? It'd ruin everything cause…for one stupid moment I thought she could like me." The video camera turned off; she had seen the low battery sign on the screen. But she'd seen enough. She realised her breathing was faster than normal; she switched the television off and grabbed the oxygen mask next to her bed. She inhaled deeply and slumped back onto the pillows. She removed the mask and put it back before lying back and staring at the white washed ceiling.

"Idiot." She gasped.

* * *

"Lily?" Alex walked into her room and saw that she had opened the doors to her balcony and was sat on the railing. She wiped her eyes hurriedly.

"Not sleepy?" She asked and Alex shook his head. He walked up to her and wiped a tear from her cheek, she smiled guiltily; she had tried her hardest not to cry but it had all came a bit too much. Being on her own again meant she wasn't doing anything, it meant she could think and thinking just made it worse. Thinking just brought back memories she didn't want to know about. Alex stood next to her and stared up at the starless sky.

"We need to talk," he said quietly and she nodded apprehensively, he found he couldn't really speak when he looked at her and so addressed the moon instead; looking to a place behind her. "I really like you Lily," he felt stupid saying it but he didn't want to upset her too much.

"But…?" Lily said before he had the chance, he looked at her quizzically and she rolled her eyes, "that's what you were going to say." It was true, "you're a really bad liar Alex," also true.

"I don't think…we should…" he faltered.

"Oh thank God," she said with a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you said it; I didn't want to be mean." She grimaced at her phrasing but smiled at a dumbfounded Alex.

"You know what I was going to say?" she nodded.

"We should perhaps wait…until my life isn't so crazy?" She said uncertainly and avoided his eyes. She did know what he was going to say. "Don't feel bad about it," she added as she saw him frown, "I think its best." She smiled and he was glad she'd said it.

"But also," Alex took a breath, "I'm not going to be there for you anyway." Lily's eyes widened as she looked at him in surprise, he lost his patience, and mainly he was angry at himself for leading her on. "I live up north, you're in London and Peru, and the distance wouldn't work. And…I'm going to be doing…missions, with Alpha Force so you'll just be hanging around." She nodded and looked away. Then there was a moment of awkward silence in which they both searched for something to say. Lily jumped off the railing and walked back into her room.

"Well it seems we have nine days left here," Alex said as he followed her, he laughed as she collapsed onto the bed and curled up.

"hmm," she closed her eyes and buried her head into her pillow. Alex walked to the door, "goodnight Alex."

"Goodnight." He left. As he walked out of her room he finally realised how tired he was and paid not attention to where he was going; consequently he bumped into Paulo who had just come out of his room. "Oh, sorry." He mumbled but was surprised when Paulo grinned at him.

"That was quick," Paulo winked at a confused Alex and walked back into his room.

* * *

_-Two days later-_

"That's not a Jack, it's a queen!" Li shouted in offence and hit Paulo's arm.

"Oh!" he put on a face of exaggerated distress, "I didn't realise," he smirked and hid his face from her by holding his cards in front of his face.

"Well I give up with both of you!" Alex threw his cards onto Amber's bed and stood up. Li and Paulo shouted at him disapprovingly but he took no heed, he walked out into the hospital's hall. They had come here yesterday but were unable to see Amber as they had been running too many tests on her; overexertion meant she was unresponsive to their calls. When they had turned up this morning she had not been in her room; although she was wheelchair bound for a few days they couldn't find her anywhere. Hex sat outside her room, he looked up from his palmtop's screen as Alex approached him.

"What's up?" Hex asked and Alex shrugged. "When's Lily coming back?" Hex placed his palmtop carefully back into its case. Again Alex shrugged again and glanced at his watch.

"She said around two-"

"How's she coping?" Hex asked suddenly and Alex looked at him.

"She says she's fine-"

"She _says_?"

"She _is_!" Alex said with a bit more confidence; "Lily's not the type of person to say something she's not feeling." At least he hoped he was right.

"I am fine." Lily said as she approached them and they both looked away, slightly embarrassed they'd been discussing how truthful she was. "Where's Amber?" She asked and they shrugged.

"When we came here she wasn't in her room, she went for a ride in her new wheelchair." Alex sniggered at the thought; Amber would hate the restrictions of a wheelchair. "How was it?" Alex asked her, suddenly turning serious. Lily shrugged.

"Dad's going to prison, mum's coming home, I'm going back to England." She smiled in relief; for the past two days Lily had been going back and forth to continuous meetings with Lawyers and other people in suits who she was meant to know but had no clue who they were. She was glad that her part in the paperwork was over; she just had seven days to spend with Alpha force now. "In the end it was all a bit too simple," she muttered. "Anyway, have you guys got your flight details for Sunday then?" She asked and looked at Hex who nodded.

"We leave in the evening; 8 o'clock." She nodded; everything was going according to plan and now there seemed some stability in her life. "I was thinking-"

"Amber!" Alex shouted and ran to hold the door open as she was pushed through by a nurse, Hex stood up to see her. "How're you feeling-"

"I am fine!" She said loudly; hoping a nurse or doctor would hear her. "That's why I do NOT need this to get me places; I have legs to-" She stopped short, staring at something behind Alex, he turned and found she was staring at Hex. He blushed under her stare and was about to say something when she cut across him. "Hi guys!" She shouted as Li and Paulo walked out of her room and into the hallway. She looked around at them all and grinned before they ran to her and embraced her. Alex got caught in the middle of the struggle and was forced between Li and Amber. Paulo and Hex moved away relatively quickly; laughing at an embarrassed Alex, trying to get himself out of their grasp. "OI, lily!" Amber shouted to her and she jumped, "get here." Lily hesitated.

"You would deny a partially disabled person a hug lily?" Paulo shook his head and Hex hit him on the shoulder.

"Thank you Hex," Amber said and she narrowed her eyes at Paulo, "say that again and I'll kick you myself." She grinned as Lily came and hugged her. "How're you holding up?" She asked as Li and Lily let go of her and Alex ran free of their arms.

"Thank you!" He said in exasperation.

"Fine," Lily said, still giggling at Alex. "Everything's sort of getting back to normal." She sighed. "I'll be going back to England in about two weeks." Everyone smiled in respite; she did sound as though everything was going to be OK. They all walked through to Amber's room, wondering to one another how they were going to spend their last seven days together in Peru. Everyone silently dreading the goodbyes to come at the end. Hex turned to Amber before they entered the room, Amber gulped, suddenly very nervous.

"Did you watch the video?" He asked and she gulped; he sounded as though he didn't know what was on the tape, it was an innocent question.

"Yes Hex, I watched _the whole thing._" She said pointedly and he just raised an eyebrow.

"_OK, that's nice." _He said slowly as though English was not her first language.

"Hex why're you talking to Amber like that?" Paulo popped his head out of the door, "her brain's fine remember."

"That's debateable!" Li shouted from inside the room, Paulo shook his head and went back inside. Hex was about to follow him but Amber's hand caught his arm.

"Hex," she faltered as he turned to her, "wheel me outside please, I need fresh air." He nodded, blushing slightly that she held his arm but he obliged. He wheeled her to a veranda that was placed not far from her room, it overlooked the hospital gardens. Hex soon began to worry, Amber was not the type to stay quiet, he fidgeted and she just sat there.

"Ok this is too weird-"

"Is it? I'm sorry-"

"Why're you sorry?" He laughed at her as she looked so lost, she shook her head and he was concerned that she seemed so upset. "Why're you so quiet?" She paused before taking a deep breath and replying.

"I suppose it's not saying anything that's got us here isn't it?" She said to herself and as Hex looked at her he began to realise what she'd been thinking, but it couldn't be that. Could it? "That tape you gave me…you left the camera recording when you and Alex were in that room in the basement of the hotel." She looked at him for some sign of recognition but none came.

"What're you-" but he stopped, realisation came over him and he stared at her, open mouthed. Before he shook his head, "no, Amber, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Why're you such an idiot?!" She asked and hit his wrist which was the highest point she could reach. "Why were you quiet about it all this time?" He shook his head in disbelief; just what was she trying to say? He took a step back and she looked him in the eye. "Hex," she had no idea how to say what she wanted to. She laughed and he drew further away in confusion, "why is it so difficult to say?!" She was angry with herself; she couldn't say it. Hex knelt down next to her and put his hand on hers.

"I don't think you have to."

* * *

_-four months later-_

"I thought you were more comfortable in the world of cyberspace?" Alex asked as he and Hex walked down a small cobbled street in London.

"Yeah but you like the outdoors," he shrugged and picked up the pace, Alex almost had to run to keep up with him, they turned a corner and came to a larger, open street with townhouses lined up opposite a park.

"What did you want to talk about?" Alex asked but Hex seemed not to hear.

"When was the last time you heard from Lily?" He asked and Alex stopped walking, confused by such a question from Hex. He shivered in the cold; it was nearing the end of November and already that year snow had fallen to the ground in London.

"At the airport in August-"

"What?!" Hex looked shocked, "you didn't bother to contact her at all?"

"I expected her to call me whenever she felt her life was ordered again." Alex said in his defence, Hex carried on walking and Alex caught up with him.

"Did you know there are fifteen prep schools in this area of London?" He asked and Alex was too confused to question him so just shook his head. "Did you know their systems all use the same format to make a password?"

"Hex what the hell-"

"First four letters are the last four letters of the school's name, next four is the year the school was founded," he turned a corner and Alex paused before following. "And the last letters are the initials of the current head teacher. Pretty simple eh?" _Only you could ever find it that simple Hex. _Alex thought but kept his mouth shut; he could tell Hex was trying to make a point. "Yeah and their systems are so basic it's laughable." He actually laughed and Alex was seriously worried by now. "I could do anything with them. For example…" They stopped and Alex bumped into him. He glanced across the road and saw a huge building before them, hidden by gates; Alex could tell it was one of the schools Hex had talked about earlier. "I could change the information that says a student is boarding at the school." He pointed across the road and Alex saw someone in a short black coat walk out and lean against the gates in front of them. "Or I could change the information where a Peruvian Court of Law says a student is disallowed to be outside the school after hours." Alex had stopped listening; he looked with more scrutiny at the figure that was a little way off.

"Hex," Alex asked and Hex grinned, "is this…? You didn't?!" Alex's grey eyes narrowed on his friend and Hex's smile broadened. "That isn't…?" Hex nodded and pushed Alex forwards.

"Will you just go already?"

"Hex…"

"I owed you one anyway-"

"How?"

"You made me realise where I was going wrong." Hex said simply.

"What did I do? Realise what?" Alex was so confused Hex almost laughed.

"_You're one to talk, not telling a girl about how you feel..._remember that?" Hex repeated the words Alex had said many months ago, it was difficult now to recollect exactly what he had said. "Just go. Now," Hex pushed him again and Alex walked away from him, he turned back and smiled at Hex who let out an airy laugh before turning and walking away.

Alex approached the figure at the gates cautiously; she wore a beret which Alex guessed was part of the school uniform as it had a badge with the school's crest on it. He walked up to her until they were at least a meter away; he looked closely at her face. She looked the same, brown eyes and coffee coloured skin, but she had cut her long brown hair. She looked back at him with the same polite interest; she hadn't realised how pale his skin was when the sun wasn't around. For now they were just illuminated by street lamps that were turning on and the sun drifted on the horizon.

"Lily," he began, still finding it difficult to believe Hex had managed to organise this. "I thought I told you; you're going to be waiting around for a long time for me." She rolled her eyes.

"And yet, I'm still standing here. Isn't that odd?" They laughed and embraced. "Alex?" She whispered softly into his jacket.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"I'm freezing!" She moved away, grabbed his hand and began to walk away; dragging him with her. "Let's get out of here." Alex nodded and squeezed her hand. He looked up to the first stars of the evening and stopped walking for a moment. "What?" He looked at her and then back at the stars with a confused look. In Peru he admitted that the stars had some beauty there that they didn't have in London. But looking at them now he could see they were just as beautiful, perhaps more so, than they were that night. He looked back at Lily, noticing there was something about her too that was more wonderful than he remembered. Perhaps it was just the fact that was there again, that made the stars seemed brighter. He couldn't really put it into words; he was always bad at stuff like that. He shook his head, lent forwards and kissed her. After a few moments she pushed him away with an embarrassed smile. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

* * *

The end.

it always becomes a bit too cheesy-pie in the end guys!

Thanks for your reviews!


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